Airport US$2,300 theft probe
CANU officer sacked
Stabroek News
May 18, 2007
The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit Officer (CANU) who counted money for an outgoing passenger, who later alleged she lost US$2,300 at the airport, has been sacked.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee made the disclosure at a press conference yesterday and Head of CANU Orvil Nedd confirmed that the officer was sent off the job since Tuesday.
Rohee told the media that CANU officers have no mandate to search for money, "their job is to search for drugs and interdict."
Annie Bacchus, in a letter to this newspaper, which was carried in the May 1 edition, made the allegation, which has since been receiving the attention of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force.
Rohee gave no further explanation on the matter.
According to an airport source, many persons have had their money stolen at the port of entry but didn't worry to report the matter since many of them were not frequent visitors.
That source said other CANU ranks were guilty of the same offence since many outgoing passengers become confused when they are asked to be searched and just abide by the instructions they are given in order to comply with the law.
Additionally Stabroek News understands that CANU has been in receipt of complaints against the same employee, but no action was ever taken.
The source said the woman was shifted around to different departments after complaints had surfaced in the past.
Nedd had no comment to offer in response to these allegations.
Annie Bacchus's allegation was made public in a letter to Stabroek News which said she was an outgoing passenger on a Caribbean Airlines flight on April 28 and after her shoulder bag was scanned by a CANU officer, whose name she provided, the officer enquired about the money she had in her possession which was US$9,683.
The woman said she had 44 US$100 bills, but after counting the money, the officer told her that only 43 were there. As she boarded, Bacchus said, an officer from the security company checked her bag placing both hands in it.
"I told her I want to hold my money but she said the other passengers will see it. I told her that is not a problem for me since I am not doing anything illegal," Bacchus said in the letter. Bacchus said the woman then gave her a camera from her bag and told her to take it off and continued delving further into her bag. She said she became disoriented and after her bag was returned to her the security officer left the area immediately with a jacket.
"I became suspicious of her actions but the airline was boarding so I checked the money as soon as I got seated only to discover that an additional 22 US$100 bills were missing."
The woman said she brought this to the attention of the flight attendant who took her back to the terminal to investigate the matter.
According to Bacchus, the supervisor of the security company asked the officer where she had gone and the officer said she went to the washroom. But Bacchus noted that the officer was no longer wearing the jacket and her money was not recovered.
"I had an option to report the matter to the Timehri Police Station or board the flight and I went for the latter," she said.
Stabroek News had made contact with CANU's head and the owner of the security service for comments.
Nedd had reserved comment on the matter since it was already in the hands of the police. Owner of Secure Innovation and Concepts Harold Hopkinson said his own investigations proved that his officer did not act in a suspicious manner when she checked the woman's bag, and supported his comment by what he said he saw in security camera footage.
However, after Stabroek News carried Hopkinson's assertions, Bacchus's husband, who said he had also spoken with Hopkinson, said the security service head had told him a different story.
Kamrul Bacchus informed Stabroek News then, that Hopkinson instead told him that when he looked at the camera he saw the female officer check the bag, place her hand in the region of her waist, then leave for the washroom.
Hopkinson told Stabroek News thorough searches revealed no money on the officer or any of the others who were searched at the end of the workday shift.
He was told of Kamrul Bacchus's position before the publication of the report, but Hopkinson said, "I could not have told him what I did not see."
Stabroek News' airport source said, "People know that this thing does happen but like the powers are not prepared to take the required action against these people. People does really get lick up here but sometimes they find out too late and it really don't mek sense because the security people who doing the checks, they collude with one another and take people's money."