ACTING Commissioner Leroy Brumell has said that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has to continue its work diligently against the illicit drug trade.

Addressing the annual Officers’ Conference, at Eve Leary, Georgetown, on Thursday, he revealed that, during last year, some 80 kilogrammes 586 grammes of cocaine were seized during police operations, resulting in 115 cases being made with a total of 124 persons charged.
He stated that 131,927 kilogrammes 909 grammes of cannabis sativa (marijuana) were found and destroyed, from which 540 persons were prosecuted in 493 cases.
Brumell said, through intensified collaboration with local, regional and international law enforcement agencies, the police will maintain focus on the fight against drugs.
“We are concerned over the armed robberies committed on miners and mining camps and the disorderly murders occurring in the gold mining areas of the interior,” he said, noting that, last year 24 of the 62 disorderly murders occurred in the then ‘E&F’ Division.
So far, this year, four of the nine disorderly murders recorded were committed in the now separate ‘F’ Division and there have been a number of armed robberies on miners, including as recent as last Friday in the Omai area, Essequibo, where a mining ‘dragger’ was attacked by a group of armed men and a Brazilian miner was shot dead, Brumell informed.
Continuing efforts
The Top Cop added that, in continuing efforts to effectively police that division, cognisant of the expanse and type of terrain which affects response to reports, a number of police checkpoints have been established there, together with frequent roving patrols and ‘stop and search’ operations.
He added: “We have been working closely with our subject Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners’ Association (GGDMA), the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and other stakeholders to ensure more effective management and control of these areas”.
Brumell disclosed that recent discussions have paved the way for a number of decisions being taken that should, positively, impact on the security of the interior.
These include the increase of police presence through the establishment of police outposts at strategic locations, the intensification and expansion of the roving patrols to include the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the GGDMA, a review of the firearm licence application and approval process, with a view to expediting applications by miners, the establishment of a Police/GGDMA communication/intelligence network, the resuscitation of the Hinterland Intelligence Committee (HIC) which will meet monthly, the recommencement of monthly meetings between the GGDMA and the Police Commissioner and appropriate senior ranks, as well as the convening of a quarterly meeting between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the GGDMA.
Other proposals touted include a crackdown on illegal shops suspected of harbouring criminal elements in the gold mining areas, the acquisition of a floating police outpost, the formation of community policing groups and the appointment of supernumerary constables for mining establishments.