Local shipper working with CANU
– GRA, GRDB assisting with investigations

THE cocaine in a cargo ship container that allegedly originated from Guyana and was busted in Hamburg, Germany, was destined for Poland. Law enforcement has contacted and questioned the shipper who is assisting investigators.
A reported ‘tip-off’ had led police authorities in Hamburg to seize over €300 million worth of drugs, Monday last.
When contacted, Deputy Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Leslie Ramlall, said that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) are assisting with the investigation.

Ramlall said the shipment of rice from Guyana was loaded on May 22 and sailed from the country’s shores on May 25, 2020.

He explained that the vessel with the containers was in transit in a “high risk country” for six days and the vessel was unloaded and reloaded onto another vessel for Germany with an eventual destination of Poland.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, has requested a detailed report from the GRDB on a cargo ship container of rice from Guyana.

“I am very concerned, like you, that those things will affect our export and we would have to put measures in place to avoid future recurrence. I have asked the manager of GRDB to provide me with a detailed report so that I can brief the President,” Minister Mustapha said.

The container in question was then taken to the city’s Waltershof customs office and examined in a testing facility.

Officers found 47 large packages hidden between the rice sacks and within those packages, a total of 1,277 small parcels with cocaine.

The parcels all had various symbols on them, including a cat’s face, the Gallic rooster, and the Ampelmännchen (red and green traffic light symbols shown on pedestrian signals in Germany).

Several hundred of the packages were marked with the same logo.