LAW enforcement officials in The Netherlands are investigating the discovery of more than 1100 pounds of cocaine in a shipment of rum that originated in Guyana.
The shipment arrived at a port in the Dutch territory on November 25.

Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), James Singh, when contacted by this publication related that the drugs were not loaded in Guyana.

“What I can say is that the container was scanned and checked before it left Guyana and we have verified that there was nothing but the product which was rum from one of the local distilling companies inside the container. There was nothing illegal when the container was scanned and we have the images to verify that,” Mr. Singh said.

He added: “About 590 kilos of cocaine was found in a container that originated in Guyana and the container was in transit in two other territories before arriving in Rotterdam.”

Singh noted that CANU will launch a full investigation into the drug bust. The agency is awaiting additional information from law enforcement counterparts in The Netherlands.

The CANU head noted that at the city wharves, there are security personnel and cameras. He said that each wharf is responsible for the containers at its location.

Further, he explained that just prior to the container being loaded onto the vessel, the seals and everything are double checked to ensure that there was no tampering.