THE reputed wife of convicted drug kingpin Barry Dataram will be jointly charged with him for being the holder of a fake passport while conspiring with persons known or unknown to forge a Guyana passport, police said.Dataram and Anjanie Boodnarine were arrested in Suriname on Friday, and were 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.
Dataram’s passport – RO376916 – was issued by the Central Immigration and Passport Office in Georgetown on April 15, 2013. Boodnarine’s passport – RO341097 – was issued on January 15, 2016 under the name “Christine Persaud”.
The couple was handed over to the SWAT Unit of the Guyana Police Force at Moleson Creek, Upper Corentyne, East Berbice on Saturday, hours after they were caught in neighbouring Suriname.
Dataram is now an inmate at the Camp Street Prison while his wife is being held at the East La Penitence Police Station.
Government, through the Ministry of Citizenship, has launched an investigation to determine the circumstances under which the duo was issued fake passports. According to the Ministry of the Presidency, subject minister Winston Felix said those found culpable will face the harshest possible action.
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 duo’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,” he noted.
Dataram was, in late September, found guilty by Magistrate Judy Latchman of being in possession of a quantity of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking; but prior to the magistrate handing down her decision, Dataram and Boodnarine fled the jurisdiction while on bail. In his absence, he was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment and fined one hundred and sixty-four million, two hundred and sixty-eight thousand dollars (Gy$164,268,000). However, the charge was dismissed against Boodnarine and two others who were also charged.
Following the duo’s escape from Guyana, President David Granger had instructed law enforcement authorities to “bring them back” to Guyana. At the time, information had suggested that Dataram could not have been using a Guyana passport to escape.
On April 16, 2015, at Dataram’s house located at 661 Silver Dam, Fourth Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, 33 parcels of cocaine were found in an upstairs bathroom, while 180 pieces were found in a blue baby tub and 92 pieces in a black garbage bag in the downstairs dining room.
A further 142 pieces were found in a freezer with shrimp in the outer yard area. The cocaine amounted to 129.230 kilogrammes.
