U.S. wants progress on extraditing Guyanese drug dealers – says country’s economy affected by narco-dollar

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The United States government said that Guyana has shown strong interest in collaborating with it under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.

Washington is encouraging Georgetown to deepen these mutual efforts even as it looks forward to tangible progress on extraditions, security sector and judicial capacity enhancement, the engagement of at-risk communities, and enforcement of laws against money laundering and financial crimes.

The GPF engaged in one of its marijuana burning exercises

Washington made these comments its 2012 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) released on Thursday. The U.S. said Guyana continues to be a transit country for cocaine destined for its states, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and West Africa. Cocaine originating in Colombia is smuggled to Venezuela and onward to Guyana by sea (fishing vessels, bulk cargo vessels, and tug vessels) or air. Because of Guyana’s porous borders, smuggling is also conducted by land from Brazil and Suriname. Once cocaine arrives in Guyana, it is often concealed in legitimate commodities and smuggled via commercial maritime vessels, air shipments, human couriers, or the postal services.

According to the report, Guyana has seen its political and judicial infrastructure impacted by narco-influence, while its economy has become increasingly affected by narco-dollars. Drug trafficking organisations based in Guyana are beginning to use neighbouring Suriname as a major distribution hub. The cocaine is smuggled into Guyana and then transported to Suriname for safekeeping and distribution. In these instances, Suriname is used as a stash location and distribution country for drugs entering Guyana. In other cases, drugs depart directly from Guyana.

The U.S. said both locally grown and imported marijuana (usually from Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Venezuela) is mostly used for domestic consumption and is the most commonly abused drug in Guyana, followed closely by cocaine. Marijuana is sold and consumed openly in Guyana despite frequent arrests for possession. Ecstasy/MDMA is becoming more prominent, although availability and use is still low. Drug abuse treatment in Guyana is hindered by insufficient government funding and a lack of public awareness.

No convictions under new laws

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of  Terrorism Act (AMLCFTA); the Interception of Communications Bill; and the Criminal Procedure Bill were designed to enhance both the investigative capability of law enforcement authorities and prosecutors’ ability to obtain convictions in drug-related cases. In 2011, however, there have been no convictions under these laws, and there is an apparent lack of political will to investigate and prosecute drug trafficking organisations, the U.S. said.

Guyana has drug enforcement officers present at its international airport, at post offices, and to a lesser extent at the port of Georgetown. Three major agencies involved in anti-drug efforts are the Guyana Police Force (GPF); the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU); and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). Of those three, CANU has the most drug enforcement experience.

Guyana is a party to the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters; the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances; and the 1988 UN Drug Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Guyana is also a party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its three protocols.

The 1931 Extradition Treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom is also applicable to the United States and Guyana. This is a treaty that permits extradition only for offences listed. Recent rulings in extradition hearings have severely challenged this treaty. For example, in 2008, a Guyanese court first made provisional arrests of fugitives very difficult, and a second court held that the treaty was invalid because it lacked a re-extradition clause. The latter issue has been addressed by a recently enacted amendment to the Guyanese Fugitive Offenders Act. The United States has not sought any extraditions since its enactment.

In 2008, Guyana acceded to, and filed, information requests under the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, to which the United States, also a party to the convention, has responded positively.

Guyana has bilateral agreements to cooperate on drug trafficking issues with its neighbours and with the United Kingdom. Guyana is also a member of the Organisation of American States’ Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD). In April, the United States and Guyana signed a Letter of Agreement to cooperate in the implementation of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI). The government of Guyana signed a maritime counter-drug bilateral agreement with the USG in 2001, but is yet to take the necessary domestic action to bring the agreement into effect.

Supply reduction

In general, the U.S. said GDF, with approximately 2500 members, supports law enforcement agencies and their operations with boats, aircraft, and personnel, but has a limited capacity and lacks law enforcement authority.

The Guyana Coast Guard (GCG), a GDF component and key partner in maritime interdiction, has approximately 250 members, and its primary missions are to patrol the territorial waters of Guyana and conduct humanitarian search and rescue.

Approximately 352kg of cocaine and 393kg of marijuana were seized in 2011.

As a result of these seizures, Guyanese authorities have cases pending prosecution against 16 mid-level and senior drug traffickers. Also during 2011, Guyanese authorities seized 2500 marijuana plants, which led to the arrest of three individuals whose cases are also pending prosecution. Cocaine seizures totalled 105kg in 2010.

Drug abuse

Guyana’s ability to handle drug abuse is impeded by the modest financial resources available to support rehabilitation programmes. According to the report, Guyana has only two residential facilities that treat substance abuse: the Salvation Army and the Phoenix Recovery Centre. Both are partially funded by the government, but they have budgetary constraints and often rely on donations from addicts’ families to stay open.

Since 2007, the Health Ministry has provided outpatient talk-therapy treatment, and has run several modest demand reduction programmes in schools, prisons, and through the media. Awareness efforts are inconsistent and lack material results due to budgetary shortfalls. There is little by way of non-governmental organisation (NGO) support in demand reduction.

The report reiterated that as a matter of policy, the government of Guyana does not encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. News media, however, report on allegations of corruption; some reports have implicated police personally in stealing drugs from seizures, while others point to high government officials who are not investigated and thus go unpunished.

Guyana is a party to the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, but has yet to fully implement its provisions, such as seizure of property obtained through corruption. Guyana is also a party to the UN Convention against Corruption. Although Guyana’s 2005-2009 National Drug Strategy Master Plan expired in 2009, the Home Affairs Ministry in August announced that it would still continue to pursue a number of the goals under the expired plan, including enhancing forensic laboratory capabilities, and expanding drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes.

CBSI is now an umbrella programme under which U.S. policy in Guyana focuses on building capacity in security and law enforcement institutions, and encouraging positive livelihoods for at-risk youth and other populations. The U.S. has facilitated subject matter expert exchanges and trainings for the GDF, CANU, GPF, and has also engaged the Department of Public Prosecution and financial institutions to enhance the capacity of the court system to manage narcotics and money laundering cases.

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted 1 Mobile Training Team (MTT) and 1 resident course in small boat operations, professional development and port security. While the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago office collaborates with Guyana on counternarcotics-related activities, the embassy continues to support the establishment of a DEA office in Georgetown.