By Leroy Smith

THE Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), says self-confessed drug trafficker Barry Dataram is “clutching at straws” and is afraid of the solid case the agency has against him in the ongoing trial for the more than 200 pounds cocaine bust last year at Diamond.

Dataram, who has had several run-ins with the law over the years, is also wanted by the United States for drug-trafficking. Dataram in a televised interview accused CANU of corruption.

“CANU, them is the most corrupted, rogue security force in this country. They are the biggest drug dealer this country has. The same drug that they seize, half of it goes back on the street,” Dataram stated in an interview on HGPTV Channel 67’s Nightly News.

Dataram reportedly said that he decided to go public with this information after CANU officers conducted a raid on his nephew’s house and removed $13 million; however they are only able to account for $10 million. The unit has since vehemently denied all allegations of impropriety.

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday, Head of CANU James Singh is of the view that Dataram is now “clutching at straws” since his court case in which he was busted with more than 200 pounds of cocaine last year is approaching and the fact that he is aware that the unit has a very solid case against him.

Singh said that he is of the view that Dataram is trying to distract attention from the proceedings of the court and bring the operations of the unit and its members into disrepute. The head of CANU is also contending that when persons make claims such as the one that Dataram is making, it means that they could have several objectives.

He described one of those objectives as the accuser’s operations being hampered by one or more than one officer, thus making it impossible for the drugs to pass the ports.

According to Singh, the unit would not be turning a deaf ear to the allegations of Dataram since they are very serious, but was quick to point out that once the evidence is not there to support the claims then there is very little that the unit can do.

Singh encouraged the drug accused to “come into the unit and make a formal statement,” or to at least make his statement under oath so that it would not be as loose as it is now. There is very little action that can be taken on the basis of such statements, when the persons making them are unwilling to swear on them.

Asked if he feels that the unit might have been penetrated by the drug underworld, Singh reminded that there were incidents in the past where persons were fingered in activities which are not in keeping with their job and the oath they took.

He also spoke of two former officers who are presently before the courts for allegedly accessing cocaine and putting those to their own use after the item had been seized. Meanwhile, contacted also on the issue was Dataram’s Attorney Glen Hanoman, who was asked to comment on the claims that his client made.

Hanoman admitted that the incident involving the alleged theft of the money angered Dataram and as such he went public. The lawyer said that his client was upset that his relative claimed that the ranks who visited his home over the weekend did not declare all that they had taken from his home and in addition to that, other items were reportedly missing from the young man’s home.

According to Hanoman, he has advised his client to make a report on the claims and that was to be done by writing to the Commissioner of Police and copied to the Minister of Public Security, since his client has no confidence in CANU investigating its own or more so itself.

However, in a statement Monday, CANU said: “The very Troy Dataram who now alleges impropriety on CANU’s ranks’ behalf saw his concerns being investigated by a relevant body disconnected from CANU. CANU is now informed that the said Troy Dataram signed to a handwritten transcript of a lengthy interview conducted by the independent investigator in relation to the alleged missing three (3) million dollars. Without delving into the details of the ongoing investigation, Troy Dataram without any assistance from Barry Dataram after pages of relating a particular story as to his ownership of twelve (12) million dollars borrowed from a cousin in Canada to purchase land in Guyana, exclaimed much details to the effect that he was sorry that he lied to the investigator about the quantity of cash retrieved in the operation; and instead that is was in fact nine (9) million Guyana Dollars.”

Further CANU said “it must be noted that Barry Dataram’s trial for possession of a large quantity of cocaine concealed in shrimp in 2015 in his Diamond abode has commenced in February 2016 in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court and may be a source of much of the unease for Mr. Barry Dataram, hence his savagery against CANU.”