Probe alleged 'Black Clothes' link to US visa scam - PNC/R
Stabroek News
May 24, 2002
The PNC/R has written to Minister of Home Affairs, Ronald Gajraj; and acting Commissioner of Police, Floyd McDonald; drawing their attention to the possible link of the Target Special Squad (TSS) to the US visa racket for which a US consular officer has been found guilty.
The party is requesting that an investigation be launched to identify the ranks possibly involved.
At a press conference yesterday, PNC/R leader Desmond Hoyte referred to an article in the Chicago Tribune, which he said reported that the assistant US district attorney prosecuting the case told the court that Thomas Carroll, the former consular officer, employed elements of the TSS to threaten his foes.
The squad was referred to in the article as "paramilitary officers belonging to a notorious Guyanese police unit known as the Black Shirts."
Hoyte also quoted from the Chicago Sun-Times, which, he said, reported "to cover his back and silence those who posed a threat to his operation, Carroll enlisted members of a Guyanese police unit known as the Black Shirts."
Hoyte asserted that the reports referred to the TSS popularly known in Guyana as the 'Black Clothes Police'.
He said the statement by the US prosecutor was categorical and the party was awaiting further developments now that the authorities have been informed by the PNC/R.