The marijuana (ganja) was found on board the Army's flagship after a Coast Guard rank, who is not a crew member and who was absent without leave, attempted to illegally board the vessel and was arrested, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) said in a statement Wednesday night.

During the interrogation, he disclosed the presence of the marijuana aboard the vessel, the statement said.

The Army said the Defence Board was notified and instructed that a thorough investigation be immediately carried out and recalled the vessel to Port Georgetown to allow the probe to be conducted.

The vessel commander notified the Directors of the exercise about the vessel's recall, the release said.

According to the Army, the Defence Board had contacted the American Ambassador in Guyana and the United States Army Southern Command (US SOUTHCOM) in Miami, which is responsible for the funding of `Exercise Tradewinds'.

The `GDFS Essequibo', the Army's flagship, sailed out of Port Georgetown Monday for Barbados where the vessel and crew members were to participate in this year's Coast Guard Phase of `Exercise Tradewinds'.

The vessel, with seven Officers and 33 Ratings under the command of Lieutenant Commander Floyd Levi, arrived Wednesday in Barbados from where the crew members were to commence training with their Caribbean counterparts, an earlier press release from the Army said.