No word on molasses cocaine
Stabroek News
July 17, 2004
There is no word from local authorities over a huge drug bust worth US$38M discovered in molasses shipped out of Guyana.
Customs officers in The Netherlands seized 693 kilogrammes of cocaine, worth US$38M ($7.6B), on June 22, hidden 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.
But while two men were arrested in London earlier this week over the shipment, it would appear Guyana's reputation as a place where drug kingpins can feel safe continues.
Despite the discovery last year of 120 kgs in a consignment of timber from Guyana, another stash found in a shipment of rice to Ghana, a bust in Baltimore, Maryland involving a former national cyclist and numerous drug related arrests in New York, to date not a single suspect has been arrested locally. Local warrants are out for two suspects but they have disappeared.
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.