THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) said it has made mind-boggling discoveries regarding the illegal trade of vehicles into Guyana across the Suriname and Brazil borders.
Vehicles reportedly enter Guyana, but do not return to the respective countries.
GRA Commissioner-General, Godfrey Statia, told reporters that his office is collaborating with the Guyana Police Force and Surinamese counterparts to track down vehicles which have come into Guyana and those which have been involved in serious accidents and have been “written off.”

Statia explained that thousands of vehicles are being driven around the country with dual number plates or with number plates for older vehicles.
“It is a trade into Guyana, not out of Guyana. Vehicles come from Suriname and they are left here and vehicles come in from Brazil and they are left here. Some of the things that we have found it will boggle your mind, because there are some taxpayers who you won’t even want to hear their names that they are involved in that. There are thousands out there that came across from Suriname,” Statia said.

He added: “There are vehicles that we have seen whereby it has crashed, it was written off, and the guys take the number plates and go and buy one from one of the dealers and put it down, so I have to catch them too.”
Dealers’ warehouses will soon be checked to verify the legality of vehicles on the market and on the road, and the GRA has asked the police for a database of number plates of all vehicles that have been written off in accidents.
The GRA is also working with Surinamese counterparts to discover vehicles that came into Guyana, but have not returned.