Drugs in snapper may fish up legitimate exporters
Stabroek News
May 21, 2004
The recent drug haul found in a consignment of fish could harm the seafood industry which is already struggling with high fuel prices, low international prices and shrinking markets.
And a source close to the industry says the circumstancial evidence suggests a number of people were involved in the shipment.
On Saturday, 50 kilogrammes of cocaine was found in 60 boxes of grey snapper as it was about to be loaded on a Universal Airlines flight for New York, after passing customs. The illegal drug according to reports, has a street value of US$5M.
Police are still looking for the man who evaded capture on Saturday. "This can't be just a small operation confined to him," says the source. "I am sure they've got others doing it."
According to police reports, the man was not a known exporter and his name was not associated with previous drug investigations.
The source says the various government agencies, which have to verify and process documents for such exports, must release all the information they have on this exporter.
The next key issue is to identity the facility where the fish was frozen.
The source says illegal exporters do not have the capability to freeze this amount of grey snapper 'rock hard'. So if this was an illegal exporter, then some means would have had to be found to freeze such a large quantity.
Commercial fish processors take five to six hours to 'blast freeze' fish for export (without opening the freezing chamber) so that they can keep for at least 24 hours.
As for the procedures, the source told Stabroek Business that since seafood exporters must produce a series of documents to meet international export standards and to validate the safety of their exports, information on this particular exporter should be readily available. If there is no such information then the exporter would be unregistered and did not follow legal procedures to export.
To get into the business, an exporter must first register with the Guyana Revenue Authority (Customs and Trade Administration(CTA) where an export number is given.
"It is a serious thing for legitimate exporters," argues the source, "an exporter once given a number, should not be allowed to use another."
An exporter then must buy a licence from the fisheries department and take it to the Customs and Trade Administration for processing. After that a certificate from the Veterinary Public Health is granted following an inspection of the processing premises. This must also be approved by the fisheries department before export.
When the consignment is at the airport, the normal procedure is for customs to conduct a random sample check.
They also need to see the export documents with the information on the exporter and importer, along with the receipt of purchase, the storage letter and the processing letter, which is approved by the fisheries department, as well.
After the shipment is on board, the exporter hands to airline officials, a certificate of health, a licence from the fisheries department, a bill of lading and the invoices with the US Food and Drug Administration number.
Upon arrival at the US port, a broker would then pay the required fees before these documents are handed over. These are presented to US port authorities to ascertain the legality of the export. This FDA number is used to identify all relevant information about the exporter. The FDA number is gained by applying through the local US embassy or by applying directly to the FDA in the US
Legitimate industries have for years struggled with illegal seafood exporters who undersell the competition, especially in the Caribbean markets.
These illegal operations often buy prawns/fish at sea and package them at "bottom house" operations for export.
In some cases these operations do not meet international exporting standards and use the documentation of legitimate businesses and their US-approved FDA identification numbers, to export to the US.
The source says it is time the government agencies crack down on bottom house exporters. According to an official source, in 2002, there were over 100 such operations.