March 2 ,2021
Authorities in Guyana have been informed of the drug seizure and Head of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit, James Singh informed News Source this afternoon that a full local investigation is underway.
Narcotics Police in Jamaica are probing the discovery of scores of packages with more than 300 pounds of cocaine which were found in containers that arrived in the island from Guyana.
The discovery was made at the Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL) on Monday afternoon.
Reports out of Jamaica indicates that the cocaine was found in two of six transhipment containers that arrived on the island from Guyana en route to Haiti and China.
The Jamaica Observer reports that while searching the containers, Narcotics Police accompanied by members of the Jamaica Customs Contraband Enforcement Team reportedly found a total of 122 packages stashed in the containers.
Each package contained cocaine.
The packages of cocaine weighed 307 pounds and carries an estimated street value of more than US$6.5 million.
No one has been arrested in Jamaica in connection with the bust.
Authorities in Guyana have been informed of the drug seizure and Head of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit, James Singh informed News Source this afternoon that a full local investigation is underway.
Mr. Singh said the information sharing between the law enforcement authorities in Jamaica and Guyana has been flowing.
He offered no additional details on the local probe.
This latest bust of cocaine in containers from Guyana, follows two other drug busts internationally that were also linked to containers that were shipped from Guyana.
In August last year, law enforcement in Germany found 1.5 tonnes of cocaine in a shipment of rice from Guyana.
Three months after that bust, more than 11 tonnes of cocaine was found in shipment of scrap metal from Guyana.
A wanted bulletin was issued for a local suspect who is still to be arrested.
There have been questions about the operation of the container scanners at the city wharves that are operated by the Customs Department of the GRA.
The GRA recently terminated the contracts for a number of container scanner specialists, while not linking the dismissals to any of the international drug busts with ties to Guyana.
