The Dutch Connection
US$38M cocaine found in Guyanese molasses
Stabroek News
July 16, 2004
Customs officers in the Netherlands have seized 693 kilogrammes of cocaine worth US$38M ($7.6B), hidden inside drums of Guyana molasses.
Officials at the Port of Rotterdam found the drugs inside a container of steel drums containing molasses after a sniffer dog raised an alarm. International news reports state that the container originated in Guyana and was destined for the United Kingdom. The Dutch finance ministry said the bust, which occurred on June 22, was kept secret so as to enable further investigations and two people have since been arrested in London.
If this is confirmed as a drug shipment originating in Guyana, it will dwarf many of the largest in recent years including that of May 2003, when British Customs officials uncovered 120 kgs in a consignment of timber from Guyana.
An official at Guysuco, the only producer of molasses in Guyana, said the company does not use steel drums in its shipments which are sent to several Caribbean islands including Grenada, Barbados and St Lucia. Guysuco does ship molasses to the United Kingdom via a shipping line but this is done in bulk amounts of 5,000 tons and there have been no recent shipments. The official said the company also sells to local farmers and producers of animal feed.
In October 2003, the Ghana Narcotics Control Board reported the arrest of three men for the importation of a quantity of cocaine concealed in a consignment of rice from Guyana. The cocaine was discovered when the rice arrived at Felixstowe in the United Kingdom. The British and Ghanaian authorities tracked the vessel on the high seas until it docked at Tema in Ghana. The arrests were made when they took delivery of the consignment
Another large bust occurred in February of this year when former national cyclist, Paul Choo-Wee-Nam was arrested and charged with conspiracy to import about 155 kgs of cocaine through the US Port of Baltimore. US Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents received a tip about the shipment when they were told a freighter carrying the drugs was coming from Guyana, making a stop in Savannah, Georgia.
In June the local Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) discovered over 50 kilos of cocaine in frozen grey snapper at the Timehri airport ready to be shipped out. One person has been charged in connection with the bust and others are being questioned.
Meanwhile extradition proceedings are being initiated against the alleged local associates of 13 persons arrested in April for various drug-trafficking and money-laundering offences in the United States.
Recent international reports have cited Guyana as a growing centre for drug transhipments and money laundering.