CANU prevails despite budget cuts

Despite budget cut for various organisations that fall under the purview of the Home Affairs Ministry, the Custom Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) has been counting its success so far for 2012, with just a few days before the year comes to an end.
In 2012, CANU made several successful cocaine and marijuana busts across the country, and has been praised for its work despite the slashing of its funds.
The agency has intercepted 100 kilograms of cocaine and 110 kilograms of cannabis up to November 2012.
This resulted in a number of persons being prosecuted, but while some pleaded not guilty and were remanded to prison awaiting their trail; there were some mules that accepted the charge and were sentenced to four years imprisonment and had to pay a Gy$30,000 fine.
In a recent Current Issues and Analysis (CIA) programme aired on Television Guyana (TVG), Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee while addressing the budget cuts, explained that as minister responsible for security in Guyana, he lays down the policies to ensure that the various departments within his ministry implement them.
He added from time to time, the minister disclosed that these policies are reviewed, but with the budget cut, it puts the various departments under pressure to perform their duties effectively.
Rohee also lashed out at the opposition, claiming that they are seeking to penalise the various departments simply because they have a problem with him as the minister.
He described the opposition’s posture as vindictive, noting that persons who work with the ministry are not politicians, but public servants who want to maintain law and order in the country.
The minister noted that despite the budget cut for CANU, some departments have done an excellent job for 2012 with the little resources at their disposal.
However, most of the cocaine that was intercepted occurred at the country’s main port of entry, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
Successes
Some of the successes of CANU include that of a security official who was attached to the Roraima Airways. The official was charged with possession of narcotics following the discovery of more than five kilograms of cocaine stitched into airline blankets. The blankets were intended to be loaded onto a Delta flight bounded for the United States.
Another major bust occurred in August when CANU and the Police Narcotics Branch (PNB) discovered 25Kg of the illicit substance before it was loaded onto a BW 526 flight destined for the John F Kennedy International Airport, USA.
The more than 50 pounds of cocaine was on a cart used to transport luggage to airlines.  The frequent occurrence led to six CJIA personnel being stripped of their badges.
Again, four kilograms of the cocaine was unearthed on the baggage ramp, minutes before it was loaded onto an EZJet flight bound for the John Fitzgerald Kennedy International Airport, USA, in October.
The cocaine was discovered in a bag on the baggage ramp during a routine search.
Also in October, five American citizens were busted with more than two kilograms of cocaine stashed in their crotches while another American citizen was sentenced to four years imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to narcotics trafficking. The 160 grams of cocaine was found in her vagina during a pat down exercise at the facility.
In September, 30 kilograms of cocaine was unearthed in a separate bust on the same day at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. The first bust (28kg) was made by members of the CANU on board a BW 526 Caribbean Airlines flight bound for New York, while the second (two kg) was made by members of the police narcotics branch in a tractor that carries the stairs to the aircraft upon touching down.
CANU has also lent support to the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEA) of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) following the discovery of 21.6kg of cocaine in Breeze Soap Powder and 233kg of the illegal substance that was found among fish feed at the Guyana National Shipping Corporation wharf.
The agency is working with the Home Affairs Ministry, and with stakeholders to arrest the trafficking of illegal drugs.
However, in recent times, the cocaine mules have been very innovative in the trade, stashing the illegal substance in inconceivable places on their bodies and various items.