-harsh action will be taken against perpetrators

GOVERNMENT, through the Ministry of Citizenship, has launched an investigation to determine the circumstances under which convicted drug lord Barry Dataram and his reputed wife Anjanie Boodnarine were issued fake passports.

According to a release from the Ministry of the Presidency, subject Minister Winston Felix said those found culpable will face the harshest possible action.

Dataram and Boodnarine were arrested in Suriname on Friday and handed over to Guyanese authorities. The fake passports which were found in their possession bore the names David Persaud and Christine Persaud with the year of issue being 2013 and 2016 respectively.

Minister Felix said the passports are now in the possession of the police, and the investigation which has been launched will seek to determine the circumstances under which the passports were issued, who and what documents were involved in their preparation, and the method of the husband and wife’s departure from Guyana.

“The Ministry of Citizenship, which has responsibility for immigration services, inherited a number of challenges related to the integrity of systems when the new administration took office in May 2015, and (has) been working to correct these issues”, the release noted.