…was a member of PSC elections observer team

NOTORIOUS drug trafficking accused Ghalee Khan has been arrested in the United States just over ten years since that country had issued a wanted bulletin for him. And questions are now being raised regarding Khan’s role as an observer for the Private Sector Commission in last Monday’s general and regional elections.

According to reports, Khan was arrested in New York at the JFK Airport on Monday, ending an over 11-year run from an arrest warrant issued for him in the US after he jumped bail on a cocaine distribution charge in 2008. Deputy Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Lesley Ramlall, said the Unit has not yet confirmed Khan’s arrest in the US; however, they have confirmed that Khan left Guyana on Monday aboard an American Airlines flight bound for JFK.

After evading authorities in the US in 2008, Khan returned to Guyana but also later faced similar drug related charges in Guyana over another incident in 2009. Khan pleaded not guilty to trafficking in three kilogrammes 408 grammes of cocaine, by supplying the quantity to convicted prisoner Orlando Dwayne Humphrey also known as Orlando Dwayne Ifill.

Over the years in Guyana, he became an entertainment promoter and later became part owner of a security company, which led to him joining the PSC. “We don’t know the background of Ghalee Khan, we don’t know the history, apparently whatever happened it happened a decade ago. He was a member of GAPSO (Guyana Association of Private Security Organisation) and he owned a security company and that security company is a member of the Private Sector Commission (PSC),” Chairman of the PSC Gerry Gouveia relayed, as he explained Khan’s association with the Commission.

Gouveia noted that Khan was an upstanding member while at the PSC, saying that: “We have no idea about his background, but he was always a very diligent and hard-orking person when we met him. We have no idea what went on when he came to the private sector as a member of GAPSO.”

The PSC was among a number of local observers that were accredited by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the March 2, General and Regional Elections. Gouveia said the PSC will be looking to issue a statement on the situation shortly. According to reports in another section of the media, Khan had also provided a metal scanning machine for the GECOM office at High and Hadfield Street. News agency, News Source, also noted that Khan made the “decision to turn himself into US Agents after his lawyers worked out a possible plea deal that also reportedly involved the local embassy. Under the deal, he is likely to plead guilty to the drug trafficking and other charges for a reduced sentence”.