LEADER of The Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, during a press conference on August 29, 2019, called out the APNU+AFC government saying that the coalition has long accused the PPP regime of creating a narco state but is yet to apprehend any major player in narcotics operation.

He accused the APNU+AFC coalition of falsely accusing his administration of facilitating the smuggling of drugs and allowing the laundering and circulation of drug money within the country.

“Not a single person has been charged for money laundering; remember how they used to rant and rave about oh the economy is filled with narco money and any building going up is funded from narco dollars, but what about now how many narco dealers and smugglers have they apprehended?”

He said that even though the government has made all these statements they have not yet made any substantive bust of any major drug operation within the country.
He further alluded to an issue relating to a member of the government’s parliament, whose sibling, allegedly, was caught with cocaine in a regional territory.

Tackling narco trafficking
Winston Felix, Minister of citizenship in a recent interview at the People’s National Congress weekly press briefing spoke on the Government’s actions against the Narcotics Operation within the country.

“The National Anti-Narcotics Agency (NANA) was established by the coalition government to tackle drug trafficking. As a result, we have seen an increase in narcotic seizures, with over 800kg of cocaine, 65,000kg of cannabis, 1,900kg of heroin seized in 2017 and 2018. Guyanese authorities initiated 503 prosecutions and convicted 227 individuals for narcotics trafficking during the same period,” Felix stated.

In the drug trafficking industry, Felix said convicting the “big fish” has proved difficult because, as in many other countries, the major players in the industry are well protected; however the country has seen much headway in the seizure of illegal drugs.

“On the issue of major convictions for big fish, that continues to be a work in progress. In no country the big fish is caught just like that… it calls for extensive work because of the manner in which big fishes are protected and organized,” he said.