Four soldiers held in arms racket probe
M70 rifle was sold to Berbice businessman By Samantha Alleyne
Stabroek News
August 12, 2002

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Four Guyana Defence Force (GDF) soldiers are under arrest over the sale and attempted sale of weapons and the army is tracking down a Berbice businessman to whom a high-powered M70 rifle was sold by a Lance Corporal two weeks ago.

Stabroek News understands that the Lance Corporal was taken into custody on Sunday night at his Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara home following the arrest of three of his colleagues on Friday night.

A source close to the GDF yesterday told this newspaper that the three privates were arrested late Friday evening after two missing weapons were found in their barracks at the Coast Guard quarters.

According to the source, officers at the Coast Guard became suspicious after they were tipped off that an M70 weapon was missing.

The three along with other ranks had just returned from Annandale where they were on patrol and instead of returning their weapons two of them opted to place them in their quarters.

An AK-47 and an M70 were found underneath the mattresses of two of the soldiers while a fully loaded magazine with thirty rounds was found in a cupboard assigned to the other rank.

The source said that it was quick action by the officers at the Coast Guard that prevented the three from leaving with the weapons and ammunition which they were intent on selling.

Stabroek News was told that it was after the three were arrested that one of them admitted that he had earlier stolen an M70 weapon and given it to the Lance Corporal who later organised a sale to the Berbice businessman for about $300,000.

It is not clear if all three of the soldiers were given a portion of the money from the weapon that was sold but investigators so far have learnt that the rank who initially stole the first gun recruited the services of the other two.

After army intelligence was furnished with the information they visited the home of the Lance Corporal and apprehended him and he admitted to the deed and provided the officers with the telephone number of the businessman he reportedly sold the gun to.

The source told Stabroek News that the army is now in the process of tracking down the businessman and should he be found they will hand him over to the Guyana Police Force.

The gun was stolen from the army on August 3.

The source said that it seemed as if a major gun racket was in the making but that the army was able to “nip it in the bud”. The source added that the army has since checked all its weapon storage facilities and found its arsenal to be intact.

It was disclosed that about three weeks ago a corporal was taken into custody after it was discovered that he had loaned his AK-47 weapon to a resident of Bare Root, East Coast Demerara. According to the source the resident was expected to return the weapon to the solider by the end of the day but this did not happen and it was discovered missing.

The rank is expected to be courtmartialled sometime this week.

It was about two years ago at Camp Stephenson, Timehri a rank had stolen a high-powered weapon and sold it to a private citizen.

The weapon was discovered missing and the rank was later arrested and handed over to the police when he was charged and later sentenced to a jail term. The weapon was later recovered following intensive investigation by the GDF.

The source said that the three Coast Guard ranks who have been held will be courtmartialled.

In recent times criminal elements have had high-powered weapons, including AK-47s, at their disposal to execute their crimes and have been able to keep the police at bay using these weapons. The arrest of the army ranks is likely to fuel concerns that criminals are being provided with weapons in the control of the Disciplined Services. Several years ago, it was determined that notorious criminal Linden `Blackie’ London had been using a weapon which had once been owned by the Guyana Police Force.