NINETEEN foreign nationals were taken into custody on Wednesday morning, following the discovery of $14 million in cannabis in a vessel at the Guyana National Industrial Company Incorporated (GNIC) Wharf on Lombard Street, Georgetown.

According to a release from the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), ranks attached to the Special Operations Section were conducting a narcotics operation onboard the foreign-registered vessel, which was slated to leave Port Georgetown later in the day with a shipment of cement.

However, during the search, CANU ranks unearthed parcels of suspected cannabis throughout the vessel.

The parcels, along with the vessel’s 19 member crew, were taken to the CANU headquarters for further processing, where the narcotic was tested and confirmed to be marijuana – a foreign type known as ” creepy ” with a total weight of 16.046 kgs (36 lbs.)

The street value of the drug is approximately $14M (US$68,293) which would have increased if the drug had reached its intended destination.

The anti-narcotics operation was part of an ongoing multi-agency and multi-national investigation aimed at dismantling a regional network involved in the movement of narcotics from Guyana using cargo vessels.