SINCE the break of 2019, the ‘E’ Division (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice) of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has recorded an overwhelming amount of raids and destruction of marijuana fields, and ranks will continue on their mission to eradicate the production of illegal substances in the division.

Commander of the ‘E’ Division, Linden Lord said that the recent successes were through a proactive attitude on the part of the ranks, who kept their ears to the ground to receive intelligence-led information, as well as remaining active and vigilant in not only Linden, but in outlying areas where the fields are normally discovered.

He said that just as traffic and criminal investigations are given daily attention, narcotics eradication is part of the division’s daily muster, more so, after realising the intensity of the situation in Region 10.

Lord said that ranks will continue to carry out patrols in outlying areas such as Mellie’s Hide Out, Wisroc Back Lands and uninhabited areas along the Linden to Kwakwani Trail, Rock Stone trail and Mabura Road, among other areas. “So we are not only concentrating in Linden, we will continue to get ranks in outlying areas, we are concentrating on the entire division,” he explained.

Lord noted that it is not about just burning fields and arresting perpetrators but the bigger picture is saving lives. “We are saving lives, saving people from consuming the drug and preventing them from suffering from all sorts of illnesses,” he posited, while commending the ranks who have been proactive in this regard.

Noting that prevention is better than cure, the ‘ E’ Division ranks have embarked on a Drug Awareness Reduction Education (DARE) campaign, where they are visiting schools and holding talks with students on the harmful effects of drug abuse.

According to the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, health effects from marijuana usage range from impaired short-term memory, making it difficult to learn and to retain information; impaired motor coordination, altered judgement, altered brain development, cognitive impairment, chronic bronchitis and chronic psychosis disorders. The division is also continuing its several youth programmes in an effort to keep the youths meaningfully occupied. Only last week, a 22-year-old youth, Garbon Williams of Kuru Kuru, was charged and remanded to prison, after being found on one of six cannabis fields measuring some 11-acres at Seven Miles, Millie’s Hideout, Linden.

The approximately 11-acres of cultivation had an estimated 18,100 plants, measuring from a foot to eight feet in height, and with an average weight of 3690 kilogrammes,” the police explained. Several nurseries with about 3, 000 seedlings, five makeshift camps, hammocks, groceries, kitchen utensils, and about 900 kilogrammes of dried cannabis were also found and destroyed. Additionally, the ranks found in one of the camps: five live cartridges, three empty 12 gauge casings and a .45 spent shell. This was the only raid since 2019, that resulted in an arrest.