…thousands of kilos destroyed says Commander Brutus

POLICE Divisional Commander Calvin Brutus, at a media briefing on Monday, disclosed that, during the General and Regional elections period, police discovered that persons were burning the cane fields in a bid to clear land for the cultivation of marijuana.

He said that on March 5, just after 19:30hrs, fire destroyed portions of the Providence cane fields, on East Bank Berbice, and days later, Berbice Divisional Fire Officer, Dwayne Scotland, confirmed that the fire was an act of arson.

Consequently, eight marijuana fields were eradicated in the area, which was less that 500 metres off the main thoroughfare, Brutus told reporters.

For the first time, in Vryheid, West Canje, the police have unearthed an acre of cannabis cultivation with several hundred plants measuring two to five feet in height and more than six thousand five hundred cannabis seedlings.

The estimated street value of the prohibited plants, is $5,824,000.00.

While the actual total weight of marijuana seized and destroyed during the current year is unavailable, Brutus suggested it amounted to several hundred thousand kilos, with a street value worth  hundreds of millions of dollars, from the six farms, where processed and packaged portions of the illegal plant were found.

The Commander has reiterated the success of the varying eradication exercises, which included due diligence of detectives, acting on information received, road block, or targeted cordon searches.

“Apart from the cordon searches, a person may have a dispute in those areas…we are using drones .. it is easier for us to locate the farms from the aerial view. We had a number of successes. We specifically targeted Berbice river and its tributaries……this is in relation to assisting Region 10, which borders our region, and, access is easily available…”

According to the Commander, there have been over 32 arrests, and, with respect to narcotic eradication, there have been seizures of three boats and engines, along with generators, power saws, STIHL brush cutters, water pumps and other equipment. Tents and accommodations were also destroyed.