GRA fires two over cocaine in logs

TIMES INT'L

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has fired two of its officers for their roles in the smuggling of a large quantity of cocaine in logs earlier this year. The shipment was intercepted in Jamaica, by port officials there, but until now no one has been charged with the find. Local drug agents had questioned a number of people, including the shipper and owner of the logs. The GRA said that in addition to the two officers another one has been suspended.

In a statement, GRA said the decision to terminate the officers’ service was made after a thorough investigation was conducted by the Internal Affairs Division of the revenue body. The investigation revealed that there were severe breaches of several customs laws, policies, standard operational procedures (SOPs) and the employee code of conduct, GRA stated.

Hence the GRA has reviewed the established SOPs to ensure that more stringent measures are in place to monitor imports and exports.” In commenting on the recent actions taken by the agency, Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur said he was “elated that the investigation into the shipment of illicit drugs was conducted without any setbacks”. He was supportive of the recommendations made by the investigating team, and all of the recommendations have since been implemented.

Sattaur also noted that “The public can contribute to the smooth operation of the agency by reporting any inappropriate behaviour by officers of the agency through the agency’s Intelligence Hotline. I want to assure the public that all information provided will be held in strict confidence.” On March 16, Jamaican Customs officials discovered in a container of wood packed on the Vega Azurit vessel, five bags of cocaine weighing some 122.65 kilograms and fetching a street value of J$ 217 million.

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