…CANU observes worrying trend among school girls

THE use of ecstasy by adolescents has increased in recent years and this has been found in several schools in Regions Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) and Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica), according to Deputy Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Lesley Ramlall.

At the opening ceremony of CANU’s Annual Training Exercise at the National Racquet Centre, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown on Monday, Ramlall said “we are conscious of the increasing demand for ecstasy among our youth population including children at schools. This drug now seems to be the common narcotic that is readily available at many night clubs and parties,” he said. Acknowledging that ecstasy, a “date rape drug” was found in five schools, the Deputy CANU Head said “a lot of people are using it for their sexual enhancement and now it’s trickling down to our youths in schools.”

He also spoke about video recordings of school girls who used the date rape drug. “The disturbing thing is that when you look at some of the videos, when we have gone back and look at the cellphones of our youths and these children, and you look at the videos that these children have in their phones, especially our girls, it’s really worrying for us in society,” he said.

He said investigations were conducted at various schools with the consent of the Ministry of Education. Noting that students had admitted to the use of ecstasy and that led to a number of persons being arrested. Ramlall said the new trend is very worrying for Guyana, since there has been an increasing demand for ecstasy among the youth population.

Noting that between 2015 – 2018, Guyana’s robust posture resulted in many seizures which indicates that cannabis and cocaine are the dominant drugs, Ramlall urged law enforcement to take serious note of synthetic drugs such a heroin, ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine which were also seized by CANU. “This drug now seems to be the common narcotic that is readily available at many night clubs and parties. However, CANU’s successes could not have been possible without the unwavering support from members of the Joint Services,” he underscored.

Equally important, he said, was the support from public-spirited citizens who were always eager to share information and intelligence on most of the operations. Noting that in 2018, the agency benefitted from a significant budget allocation, the Deputy CANU Head said with Cabinet’s approval for the expansion of the unit, this has aided in combatting the narcotics trade. “Our intelligence and operational capabilities as well as training capacity have increased significantly. It should be noted that while we focus on core training, both locally and overseas, to satisfy our mandate and stem the supply side of narcotics, we have also started to target the demand side,” he explained.

He continued: “Our collaborative effort and approach with the Ministry of Education and from colleagues of the Narcotics Branch of the Police Force have seen us conducting investigations in schools where there were reports of the use of narcotics, especially ecstasy.”

Further, he said a number of ranks completed their photography training, thus boosting the unit’s capability to present better evidence in court proceedings. In addition, he said Spanish training was also included for ranks while supporting their academic programmes at various institutions.

Under the theme of “Stemming the flow of narcotics through capacity building and inter-agency collaborations”, the CANU Deputy Head said this will be applicable for the next four years; since this is needed to tackle the inbound and outbound movement of narcotics.
He said that the levels of cooperation amongst regional and international partners have improved significantly over the last year and this has definitely afforded better operations that are transnational. “At the same time our intelligence and commitment from local partners must be commended, collaborative efforts with agencies such as the SOCU, FIU, GPF, GRA, GDF and NANA and all other stakeholders are testimony that we are already stemming the tide of the narcotics trade,” he explained.

Vice President and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan, noted that parents have to play a more important role in the monitoring of their children. “I am pleading with people, be a little more caring to your children, see what they do and don’t, and that will help prevent them from using ecstasy and all these things. When they go to a party or partying plenty, what are they doing at the party? Are they having ecstasy with friends or family members? And when police run in and raid the party, people cuss the police,” Minister Ramjattan said. He also added that the community and religious leaders must care more since the youths are the future.