The Guyana Forestry Commi-ssion will soon be able to identify the local company which shipped the consignment of timber in which 120 kilos of cocaine were found at a UK port.
The British authorities have yet to pass this information to any of the relevant authorities locally.
Seven persons were arrested in Wales and taken before the Caerphilly Magistrate’s Court on Monday in connection with the bust. They are to return to court on Monday.
Commissioner of Forests, James Singh told Stabroek News yesterday that the Commission has been able to identify the exporters who were licensed to export timber around the date the shipment left Guyana.
Singh said that his officers would have checked the consignment at the site operations of the exporters to ensure that timber to be exported corresponded in quantity and species as stated on the licence. That documentation would then be passed to the Customs and Trade Administration Department. Stabroek News understands that the documentation for the shipment in question has been passed unsolicited to the Customs Department but has been unable to confirm this with the Commissioner, Customs and Trade Admin-istration.
Stabroek News has been reliably informed that the shipment in which the cocaine was found comprised a consignment of railway sleepers. The sleepers were stored in two containers one of which was sealed by the Customs and Trade Administration Department. The other was described as a flat rack container, the sides and top of which are open. This container is normally used for shipping heavy cargo because of the ease with which it can be loaded.
Meanwhile, Stabroek News has confirmed that the British authorities have still to make contact with the police here. Commissioner of Police, Floyd McDonald told Stabroek News that though no formal request for assistance had been made as yet the police were ready to provide any assistance. He denied knowledge of any investigators from Scotland Yard or any other agency being in the country, saying that the police would have to be notified of their presence. It was reported in both the Guyana Chronicle and Kaieteur News yesterday that Scotland Yard investigators were in the country.
McDonald explained that any request by Scotland Yard for assistance from the local police would come through the legal attaché to the High Commission and would not necessarily involve officers travelling to Guyana.
The British High Commission also said that it had no knowledge of any British investigators being in the country in connection with the cocaine seizure.
Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj also denied in a Government Information Agency release that there were Scotland Yard detectives in the country. “Those found culpable of the offence will be brought to justice”, Gajraj said. He pointed out that there were no less than 16 shipments going to the UK during the period under consideration and there were several vessels involved. He said the public would be advised of progress as long as this did not compromise investigations.
The seven persons charged in the Welsh court are Lebert Anthony Barrows of Jamaica, Anthony Junior Chambers, Michael Silcox, Gerald Davies, Mohammed Afzal Shaheen, Milton Wilson and Joseph Salmon.