…Berbice police take aim at marijuana farms
…commander says big dent made in distribution network

THE police in Berbice are taking the fight against ganja trafficking in the region, with a heavy focus this year on destroying large acres of farms in the Berbice and Upper Demerara riverine communities.
SOME $11.7B in cannabis was seized by the security agencies last year. The GPF seized 64,887kg 674.45g of cannabis, while CANU seized 123kg 825g and GRA-DEU seized 18kg 982g, totalling 65,030kg 481.45g of cannabis, altogether representing $180 per gram. In the case of eradication of illicit cultivations, there were nine operations in which nine fields were targeted, representing 17.5 acres of land. Some 61,330 plants were discovered weighing 75,166kg. In the case of dried cannabis, 2kg 210 grams were discovered and some 1355kg 231.45g of herbal seizures were done, representing a grand total of 1357kg 441.45g. Only two persons have been charged. Dried cannabis representing $397,800 was seized ($180 per gram street value), while herbal seizures represented a street value of $243, 941,661 ($180 per gram, street value); a combined total of $244,339,461.

President David Granger, since taking office in 2015, has said that his administration will bring narco-trafficking to an end. He described the trade as “the mother of all crimes” and noted that once illegal drugs enter Guyana, it would be difficult to control crime here. “We do not have the resources, the assets, and we do not have aircraft to patrol our borders. We do not have the ships to patrol our sea space. We do not have the vehicles to patrol the land space to bring these crimes to an end…,” the Head of State had said in October 2016.

Speaking exclusively with the Guyana Chronicle, ‘B’ Division Commander Lindon Alves said the only way to get rid of a problem is to get to its root and that is exactly what he and his team are doing to foster a safer community for all. He explained that while they have been trying with their regular exercises to intercept and raid possible drug houses, they have not been netting too much success in this regard, as they are only removing a part of the problem. As such, they decided to tackle the fields in the remote riverine communities, namely areas in the Canje Creek and Berbice River. “In 2016 we were able to eradicate eight fields with plants ranging from three to five feet, which gave us a total of 41,545kg marijuana that included Canje and Berbice River. However in 2017, we were able to destroy 12 fields amounting to 29 acres with 85,000 plants ranging from three to five feet weighing 46,100kg”

The exercise, he noted, is also responsible for a massive spike in the seized quantity of compressed marijuana for 2017, compared to the previous year and continued into 2018. Alves explained that on the raids ranks were able to seize street-ready, compressed marijuana in the camps that made a huge dent in the distribution network. “About a week ago a team went into the area where they were able to destroy two acres; this exercise will continue. I know that would have been a severe blow to the narco industry, so we will continue with the view of getting to the pushers, our regular stop-and-search exercises, cordon-and-search drug houses as well”.

The success of the exercises however was not only based on police action, but also with cooperation from the community and intelligence-gathering. “Sustainable communities are places we all want to live in, safe and secure neighbourhoods are an essential component of our society and the only way to achieving this is by working together with the community. Police can greatly reduce crime, drug and antisocial behavior, whilst making their neighbourhoods a nicer place to live through improved cooperation with the citizens of the communities and that is exactly what we have been doing.”

In this regard, the divisional commander said he will be undertaking a series of activities to help foster better community relations and get youths involved in meaningful activities. These include: Community meetings / safety talks, implementation of a Social Intervention Plan that will see the re-establishment of the Scouts Group in Angoys Avenue, Adventure and Weldaad,and resuscitating of the Steel Band among others.
The events according to the commander, apart from being fun, are organised and help to instill discipline which starts at the grass root levels and help equip youths with life skills that they can use to move on to other aspects of their lives. A passionate advocate for youth involvement in community activities, the commander has issued orders for each of his station sergeants to re-activate or form youth groups in their locality.

Team-policing

Another area on which the police have been working is its mandate to not only protect but to serve the community. Here ranks are able to identify people within their communities or areas that they frequent that are deemed ‘shut-ins’ or are immobile, especially the elderly who live alone, so in the event of any situation that information is available to the ranks responding, so that they can help these individuals who cannot help themselves.

In addition, the police will be collaborating with the Ministry of Education to launch an anti- truancy campaign in Berbice, since the division is keen on ensuring every child gets to school. To this end, ranks are expected to visit schools and get information from them on students that have a history of skipping school and will visit the family to investigate the circumstances under which the child/children are missing school. “ It’s the government’s mandate to get every child in school and provisions have been put in place to make this happen, so there really is no excuse to be absent unless it’s some form of illness.”
Apart from these measures, the commander has scheduled outreaches for the entire division that will commence shortly, whereby members of the public will get the opportunity to interact openly with the hierarchy of the division and is urging members to make use of the opportunities to air their concerns and recommendations. “We are working to make these communities safer with the help of members of the public; we are trying to bridge that gap, build trust and that’s the only way we can be successful. I know it has been fractured for a period of time, but we are open and we want to build that bridge so that persons can feel free to come to us and relate information without fear of being exposed.”