POLICE are investigating what might have been a staged kidnapping after a Cuban national was allegedly found safe despite a report that he was being held against his will and being used to extort money from a relative overseas.
According to police, the matter was reported on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, by a 25-year-old Cuban national, who claimed that a 29-year-old compatriot was being held captive and that a ransom demand had been made for his release.
Investigators immediately launched enquiries and reviewed CCTV footage from a location on North Road, Georgetown.
The investigation later led ranks to Grove, East Bank Demerara, where the alleged victim was found inside a motor car with several other persons.
Police said a search of the vehicle uncovered an air pistol matching the description of an object seen in a photograph linked to the report.
Three persons were subsequently arrested. They include a Police Constable of Grove, East Bank Demerara; a 23-year-old Cuban labourer of Grove; and a 41-year-old taxi driver of Middle Road, La Penitence.
Three other persons were detained for questioning, including a 28-year-old mechanic and a 47-year-old driver, both of Grove, as well as a 34-year-old unemployed Cuban national.
Investigators also seized two motor cars and several cellular phones as part of the probe.
Police said the alleged victim was interviewed and placed into custody.
Further investigations reportedly uncovered inconsistencies in the initial report.
According to information gathered by detectives, the alleged victim had reportedly sent a photograph of himself appearing to be held at gunpoint in the back seat of a vehicle and requested US$1,500 from his father, who resides overseas.
Police are now working to determine whether the kidnapping was fabricated as part of a scheme to obtain money.
Investigations are ongoing.
This is not the first time a foreign national staged their kidnapping in Guyana. Back in 2017, Trinidadian national, Sawak Maraj, was arrested for giving false information to the police, stating that he had been kidnapped, and that his abductors had demanded US$700,000 for his release. He was eventually sentenced to four years in prison.
Maraj arrived in Guyana on October 27, 2017, claiming to have come for a job interview. He was picked up at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport by two other Trinidadians who had arrived in the country earlier that week.
Later that same day, Maraj’s relatives in Trinidad reportedly received a call from an unknown person claiming to have kidnapped Maraj shortly after his arrival here and demanding that a ransom be paid for his release.
The man’s family was also sent a photograph showing him clad only in his underwear and socks, and one of his alleged abductors holding a cutlass to his neck.
After being contacted by the man’s family in Trinidad, local police and agents from the Force’s Major Crimes Unit immediately sprang into action.
The first thing they did was to review footage from the surveillance camera at the airport, which showed Maraj warmly embracing his two so-called abductors, who turned out to be the said two ‘Trinis’ who’d picked him up at the airport, before boarding a taxi without incident.
Aided by the surveillance tapes, the investigators were able to track down the taxi driver who transported the men from the airport and trace the call that was made to demand the ransom. It was that call that gave away the location from where the call was made.
Armed with such vital information, the agents then hurried to the location, and there they found Maraj, the supposedly kidnapped victim, in an apartment, relaxing and sipping on beverages.