A TOTAL of 15 employees from the Materials Management Unit (MMU) at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, were arrested and in police custody up to press time following the discovery of medical supplies they allegedly stole.

A reliable source told Guyana Chronicle that for a while now, officials had suspected that drugs were being stolen from the unit but did not have evidence.However,on Wednesday evening an MMU officer observed drugs stashed inside the toilet of the MMU bond. The officer did not raise an alarm but informed another trusted colleague and a sting operation was set up.

This newspaper understands that the officers then left the bond but returned later when other MMU employees were about to leave in a bus. The officers then ordered the employees out of the bus and conducted a search, during which 24 packets of medical supplies, worth $5,000 each, were found.

No one claimed ownership of the drugs and they were all taken to the police station for questioning. The officers also found the drugs intact inside the toilet. In March, police launched an investigation into missing drugs and medical supplies at the Suddie Public Hospital and several medical officers attached to the hospital were questioned. Three persons, including an ambulance driver and an assistant pharmacist were taken into custody and placed on $20,000 bail each.

The police was called in to investigate a case of fraud at the Suddie Public Hospital after drugs and medical supplies went missing one week after arriving there.

In a statement, the Public Health Ministry explained that when a Ministerial Task Force visited the Suddie Public Hospital, authorities at the hospital could not account for several items sent only the week before by the MMU.