A FOREIGN based vessel registered in Cyprus, was yesterday busted with a large quantity of pure cocaine secreted in a container while in Guyana, en route to Belgium. 

The vessel has since been identified as the MV Delta Dies.

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) subsequently reported that 120 packages of cocaine were unearthed, each weighing five pounds.
According to the GRA, agents acted on intelligence provided by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), said that one of the containers on board the vessel had cocaine concealed in it.
CANU was subsequently called in, and together with officers attached to GRA’s Law Enforcement and Investigation Division (LEID) and Drug Examination Unit (DEU) conducted an examination of the container.
According to GRA, “The drugs worth approximately US$800M were concealed in a flat rack which was on board the vessel which arrived in Guyana from Suriname with eleven crew members.”

The ship had left the Netherlands via Parimaribo, Suriname then proceeded to Guyana to load bauxite and was supposed to proceed to Spain.

Information reaching the Guyana Chronicle is that when the vessel arrived in Guyana from neighbouring Suriname, it docked at a wharf in Linden, to uplift a shipment of Bauxite.

Sources outside of CANU who are familiar with the investigation reported that the vessel’s docking here and concealment of the illegal substance were facilitated by persons locally, but the names of those persons have not been released, and it is not clear whether the names had been disclosed to law enforcers.

Sources at CANU yesterday would only confirm the seizure and amount, but would not disclose the names of the local players who would have facilitated the docking and subsequent attempted departure of the vessel with the illegal substance.

The cargo vessel was escorted to CANU headquarters in Georgetown, where it was impounded. The illegal substance was tested and weighed, and persons who were on board the vessel were also taken into custody, according to sources investigating the bust. Their nationalities were, however, not released.
Meanwhile, GRA in its report stated that the discovery of narcotics on board the ocean going vessel has once again proven the success of t its efforts in tackling the illicit drug trade.
“The GRA has long recognised the importance of forging regional and international linkages in the ongoing efforts at addressing challenges of a global magnitude such as drug trafficking and the smuggling of goods. The partnership has been successful on several fronts.”
In 2012 Guyana and Suriname joined the Container Control Programmes to improve port security and stop the use of containers for transnational criminal activities including the trafficking of narcotics.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime paved the way for the establishment of joint port control units in Guyana and Suriname at John Fernandes and Nieuwe Haven respectively.
According to GRA, the initiative has allowed both countries to strengthen the control of inbound and outgoing containers, improve real time exchange and analysis of information among other advantages.