THE United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) will be officially opened in Guyana next Wednesday, a statement from the United States Embassy in Georgetown said on Friday.The office, to be stationed at the US Embassy, will be declared open by US Ambassador Perry Holloway and a senior Guyana Government official. Ambassador Holloway had, in October at his first press conference, said the DEA would have been permanently staffed by January 15; and he had announced that someone has been selected to head the local office but he was not at liberty to divulge the identity of the person.

Holloway had then explained that there were a number of temporary personnel, stationed in Guyana during 2015, who worked round the clock to ensure that all is in place for the full complement of staff and activities.

“We have had a number of DEA temporary-duty personnel stationed here for weeks and months at a time,” he said. This has been ongoing since the office was set up in 2014. Since the establishment of the DEA office here, the ambassador said, “We have started ramping up the office.”

Officials from the DEA have been working along with local authorities to improve certain aspects of Drug Enforcement.

“They have already been working very closely with the appropriate Guyanese authorities on cases, training, technical assistance…,” the US Ambassador told reporters in October.
The DEA office has been set up here to go after drug lords who are bent on transporting narcotics through whatever means possible.

In 2014, former US Ambassador Brent Hardt had said the DEA would be bringing equipment and personnel to Guyana to ensure the office is adequately furnished.
It was noted that officers of both the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the police would be screened so as to ensure that information is not leaked to those suspected of being part of the narcotics trade. But while the US is furnishing the DEA’s office in Georgetown, and providing the requisite skills and expertise to the local law enforcement bodies, it is only local officers within those agencies that will be responsible for arresting suspects, after receiving and sharing critical information with the DEA. The aim, therefore, is to build cases and ensure prosecution.

The former administration, People’s Progressive Party (PPP), was slammed by the APNU-AFC administration, while in Opposition, for its slothful approach to having the DEA office established. The failure of that administration to implement a National Drug Strategy Master Plan and provide CANU and the police with the requisite assets was considered to be a lack of interest in the establishment of the DEA office here.

It is believed that establishment of the DEA office here will see Guyana, a major transshipment point for drugs entering the US, being better supported to tackle the narco-trade, traffickers, and smuggling across the country’s porous borders.