Team heading to Curaçao to probe gold heist

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud on Tuesday said teams are likely to be dispatched to some countries, to continue their investigation into the millions of dollars of stolen gold, suspected to have been smuggled from Guyana into Curaçao.
Persaud told media operatives that teams are working on the ground, interacting with the related agencies to get to the bottom of the issue. Persaud said, “I don’t want to get into the details”, but the investigation is currently active and making headway. Asked whether teams will be dispatched to Curaçao to launch a more detailed investigation, Persaud said, “Teams will be going where we believe they ought to go.”
The natural resources minister posited that the investigation will not exclude or include any particular jurisdiction, “because indications are that it [scam] includes a number of countries”. He said whatever information is required from Guyana, the authorities will provide it to whichever country requests such and will move to deploy local teams if government finds it necessary to do so, to get to the bottom of the scam.
Asked whether the fishing vessel has been confirmed as one registered in Guyana, Persaud said, “no one has suggested or supported evidence in that regard”.  The minister on Saturday met with members of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) and licensed gold and diamond dealers. At that meeting, the minister reiterated government’s zero-tolerance approach to gold smuggling. He said government and law enforcement agencies will work with concerned international authorities, to ascertain the source of the stolen gold.
According to information received, a registered Guyanese vessel was attacked and robbed upon its arrival in Curaçao on Friday by masked gunmen. The bandits, dressed as policemen, attacked the boat just after it docked and made off with the smuggled gold. The minister stated that the president and the government are very concerned and are treating the incident with a ‘high level of seriousness’.
Meanwhile, police in Curaçao said Saturday that they have several leads on the smuggling and robbery. They said that at least six men were involved, but no one was arrested in a case that surprised authorities in the Dutch-Caribbean island, just north of Venezuela. Curaçao is primarily known as a tourist destination, particularly for divers, and an offshore financial centre, especially for people from South America.
Reports from the Associated Press indicate that police have interviewed the captain and three crew members of the ship, who contacted officials in Curaçao about the incoming gold shipment, as part of normal security protocol.
The shipment of gold bars weighs about 216 kilograms (476 pounds) and is worth US$500 million. Police declined to say where the gold was being delivered, but one crew member, who identified himself as Raymond Emmanuel, said they were delivering the gold to an unidentified company in Curaçao.