PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar has sent a very strong and clear message to members of the armed forces by instructing them to “root out all levels of drug houses”, regardless of who plays a hand it any.

The President said the police must adopt a tougher approach as it relates to ridding the society of drug houses, gangs, and guns.

He made this call while addressing senior police officers on Thursday at the Annual Officers Conference of the Guyana Police Service(GPS), where he urged them to be more prompt in their response to the calls from communities relative to reports.

President Ramotar said the police must not only go after the big ones in the drug underworld, but also the little operations in the various communities. He stressed that if the little drug operations are left alone or go undetected, especially those in the communities, a situation could develop whereby it could, and does, lead to a bigger problem for the security forces.
In explaining his rationale, the President told the officers that when these operations spring up in communities, the young people are recruited and get involved in the trade at an early age, thus making them very knowledgeable of the trade at a tender age; and by the time they reach a certain stage in life, it becomes hard for them to get out of the practice.

Additionally, he said, it brings added work for the police, as they are faced with several hardcore individuals who are bent on ensuring that they keep the drug operations alive and flourishing.

President Ramotar pointed to a recent visit he made in Berbice, where he met with some victims of a tragedy. Members of the community of Rose Hall informed him that there were many drug houses in the community, and even admitted that everyone in the community was fully aware of the presence of the outlets.
When he questioned why the police were not raiding the outlets, it was pointed out to him that “everyone” knows about them.

The President told the conference that if “everyone” knows about them, the police must also know about them”.
He cautioned that should the police fail to go after the drug houses — be they big or small — it gives the communities and everyone watching the impression that the police have some kind of connection to the operations of these establishments, and that in itself damages the relationship between the police and the public, and often becomes the barrier that prevents the public from having confidence in the armed forces.

Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell assured the President that the Guyana Police Force would continue to make strides in its efforts to rid the streets of drugs. He said the Force has been doing some serious cracking down on the drug trade; and during last year, a total of 80 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized by the police. There were 155 cases made out against persons, of which 124 were related to cocaine. A total of 909 grammes of cannabis were seized and destroyed, for which 493 cases were made out against suspects, with 540 persons being charged in relation to the crackdown in that regard.

The president also used the opportunity to congratulate the police force on the amount of firearms they had been able to pull off the streets last year, and thus far for this year.
He noted, however, that there needs to be a more intensified approach towards operations of that nature, so that the day will come when Guyana would see less or no illegal guns on the streets, which would ultimately add to the improvement of the security of the nation generally.

He encouraged the police to lift the level of their work if they are to remain on top of their game and ahead of the forces they try so hard to suppress.

The conference, which ended yesterday, was held under the theme: advancing institutional modernization to secure our communities through enhanced professionalism, partnership, strategic management, and effective leadership.