THE Brazilian Federal Police have arrested 27 immigrants who entered Bom Fim illegally via Guyana’s borders.
A release from the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) here noted that the interception occurred Friday evening and early Saturday morning. Of those arrested are 26 Haitian nationals and one Cuban. Also arrested were taxi drivers waiting to transport them onwards.

“Some of the Haitians arrived in Lethem during this past week. They were initially denied entry into Brazil, but it was suspected that they would try to use other routes to cross over, hence the information was passed on to Brazilian Counterparts by CANU who then alerted their law enforcement units within the area,” the CANU statement noted.

Recently, Brazil’s Federal Police and CANU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to share information and conduct joint operations, involving narcotics and other criminal activities.

“This is one of the successes coming out of this arrangement. The movement of persons through unofficial crossings not only poses a security risk but also a health risk due to the ongoing COVID Pandemic,” the CANU release concluded.
Guyana’s land borders with Brazil have been closed since March 2020.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, had noted that security and border patrols will continue to be vigilant, while the health authorities in Region Nine have been placed on alert since a new transmissible COVID-19 variant was discovered in Brazil this year.