Alarmed over a reported plot by organized crime groups in the United States and Italy to smuggle as much as 1,000 pounds of cocaine from Guyana to the port of Gioia Tauro in Calabria, leaders of the main opposition APNU yesterday met with senior army officers.

The meeting came a day after US and Italian authorities moved against key figures from both countries for narcotics trafficking, among other charges, based on what is being called a transnational heroin and cocaine trafficking conspiracy involving the ‘Ndrangheta, which is one of Italy’s most powerful organised crime syndicates.

Local authorities are keeping a close eye on the details from the busting, and according to sources attempts are being made to seek further information on the plot to export cocaine from Guyana and the claim that Mexican drug cartels may be operating here.

“Operation New Bridge,” which was carried out by FBI and Italian agents simultaneously just after midnight in Brooklyn, New York, and just before dawn in Italy on Tuesday, resulted in 24 arrests.

Among those arrested were Franco Lupoi, a member of the Gambino crime family with links to the ‘Ndrangheta and who allegedly plotted to transport 500 kilogrammes of cocaine internationally, hidden in shipments of frozen fish or pineapples, from Guyana to Italy.

When contacted yesterday, Opposition Leader David Granger, who leads APNU, confirmed that he and coalition executives Winston Felix and Joseph Harmon met with a GDF team, which included Chief of Staff Mark Phillips.

In an interview with Stabroek News, Granger said that that it was the seriousness of the issue that prompted APNU’s call for the meeting. He stressed that once the Mafia is involved, “it is no laughing matter” and added that it was a waste of time taking their views on the issue to the Minister of Home Affairs, who has allowed the National Drug Strategy Master Plan to lapse.

The opposition has repeatedly registered its no confidence in the minister, including by way of a parliamentary vote and continues to call for him to demit office.

Granger said the issue is beyond the reach of the police and the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is why the army was approached with a view of asking that its available resources, particularly aerial and marine resources, be used to prevent the entry of cocaine into the country.

Asked what came out of the meeting, Granger added that his delegation’s concerns were noted and they will be taken to the Defence Board.

He said too that the opposition will be doing everything possible legislatively to support the GDF.