Rice Board officials meet over cocaine bust

TIMES INT'L

Directors of the state-run Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) on Wednesday convened an emergency meeting to discuss the interception of cocaine on a rice shipment from Guyana in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday.
GRDB General Manager Jagnarine Singh disclosed that he has not been officially contacted by local law enforcement on the issue.
The 69 kilograms of cocaine was on August 12 discovered in a shipment of rice which left Guyana for Venezuela.
The seizure was made by law enforcement officers in the Dominican Republic in a container of rice being shipped by the GRDB. The shipment of rice left Guyana and was in Jamaica for trans-shipment to the Dominican Republic where the discovery was made.

GRDB General Manager Jagnarine Singh
GRDB General Manager Jagnarine Singh

Singh in an invited comment stated that he was made aware of this development via the media which prompted an emergency meeting with the board of directors.
Singh stated that rice is shipped from Guyana to Venezuela via Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, thus, the organisation will have to track the movements of the vessel before a conclusion is made. He said that if and when the GRDB is contacted, they will cooperate with investigators.
Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Commissioner General Khrushid Sattaur told Guyana Times International that he was not too familiar with the case since he was on an overseas visit.
Meanwhile, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) continues to investigate the drug bust and confirmed that one person has been arrested by law enforcement officers in the Dominican Republic.
CANU officials are continuing its investigations locally as it searches for answers.
One of the most important questions lingering in the minds of drug enforcement officers is whether or not the container was scanned before it left Guyana.
Early last week, the police intercepted more than 15 kilograms of cocaine in a shipment of ochroes at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
The cocaine was discovered in several boxes of ochroes which were among other boxes that contained vegetables. One man was later jailed for four years and fined Gy$ 40.5 million for ship ping cocaine.

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