Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana Dario Morandy share a light moment during their meeting on Wednrsday
Guyana and Venezuela have agreed to collaborate in the fight against the illicit drug trade, and a group of Guyanese lawmen are going to that country to be trained in the use of specialised equipment to help suppress drug smuggling here.
This is according to Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana Dario Morandy, who disclosed in an invited comment that representatives of the two countries signed the revised agreement on the “Prevention of illegal consumption and the suppression of illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and chemical presursors, as well as related offences, ” on Wednesday, February10th.
“The two presidents will now sign the agreement during bilateral talks in Caracas next month,” he added.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry, in a statement late Thursday, said: “Both Guyana and Venezuela have agreed that the new conditions that have emerged require the strengthening of cooperation in the area of illicit trafficking of drugs because of the changes in the modus operandi of traffickers, and the 1987 agreement does not contain all of the necessary provisions to facilitate strengthened cooperation, given those changes.”
Though the actual features of the new agreement were not disclosed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, it said that the text which was agreed to will now be presented to the two governments for approval.
According to the statement, the two delegations also took the opportunity to discuss cooperation in combating the illicit small arms trade to further the fight against narco-trafficking. They also reportedly exchanged information on their respective National Drug Strategies, as well as the scope for mutual legal assistance on criminal matters.
At the opening of Wednesday’s discussion, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said he wanted to see a new deal that featured “real-time cooperation between the respective law enforcement agencies of the two countries”. According to Rohee, the agreement should also include assistance in taking necessary actions to confiscate the assets of those convicted of involvement in the trade in illegal drugs or related offences.
The Guyana-Venezuela border spans 672 kilometres, or 420 miles, and it is clear that securing this much territory would demand significant resources that pose a challenge for both countries.
“It is also an incontrovertible fact that the suppression of the drug problem cannot start and end within national jurisdictions, and therefore require regional and international cooperative and coordinated action,” Rohee admitted.
Guyana’s delegation included representatives of the Ministries of Foreign and Home Affairs, as well as members of the Task Force on Narcotic Drugs and Illicit Weapons. Venezuela’s team was led by Ambassador Morandy. President Jagdeo and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez decided that the original agreement was not comprehensive enough to truly address the evolving face of the drug trade; and, as such, committed to its revision.
In 2010, the seizure of cannabis here amounted to 191,877kg, while a total of 537 persons were arrested and charged for offences related to possession/trafficking of cannabis. The seizure of cocaine in 2010 amounted to 71.825kg; 132 persons were arrested and charged for offences related to the possession/trafficking of cocaine.
