GA 2000 moves against 'backtracking', smuggling
GUYANA's first privately owned and operated national flag carrier, Guyana Airways 2000 (GA 2000), has put in place security measures to protect the airline against `backtracking' and smuggling. A statement from the company yesterday said that since GA 2000's inaugural flight on July 9, the airline's security staff has prevented 16 persons from boarding. They had presented fraudulent documents to the airline's staff at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, in an attempt to travel as passengers to North America and were referred to the Immigration authorities at Timehri. The statement added that when a passenger with false documents arrives in the U.S. or Canada on a foreign-based airline, "it becomes the responsibility of the airline and extremely heavy fines may be imposed by the United States and Canadian authorities which can financially cripple a small airline". Alluding to a television news report about four persons escaping the scrutiny of GA 2000, the statement said three passengers travelling on GA 2000 flights were detained by the U.S. Immigration authorities. But legal documentation of the passengers were in order and they were apprehended by the U.S. Immigration authorities for reasons which are in no way connected to the airline's security responsibilities, it said. The detained persons were deemed to be "inadmissible aliens" by virtue of their "potential liability" under U.S. Immigration laws, and were returned to Guyana at their own expense, the release added. Meanwhile, GA 2000 has warned that, as is the case with all airlines flying out of Guyana, it will continue to maintain the strictest possible security measures, both internally and externally, against attempts by organised crime to use the airline for illegal entry into another country and criminal activities involved with drugs, gold and currency smuggling or any other criminal activity which endangers the airline.
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