$100M cocaine found in fish -four men held
Stabroek News
May 17, 2007
The boxes containing the small packets of cocaine which were removed from the fish glue by the officials. The large bags contain the dried fish glue. (Jules Gibson photo)
The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) yesterday made its largest cocaine bust in recent times at a house at Enterprise, East Coast Demerara where it unearthed 106.5 kilogrammes of cocaine, said to be worth $100 million stashed in dried fish.
Four men - a businessman, two fishermen, and a trader - who were at the house during the raid were arrested. They are likely to be charged shortly.
A CANU official said that when the team swooped on the house at 185 Charlotte Street, Enterprise around 11.30 am, the men were sitting around having lunch. The cocaine, which was already neatly compressed in plastic and wrapped in what is called "fish glue" was drying in the sun.
The official said more of the already dried substance was found in the upper flat of the house.
When this newspaper arrived at CANU headquarters yesterday afternoon flies swarmed the smelly fish, which had been cut open by officers to remove the cocaine.
A CANU official opens one of the sealed fish packages, which contained the cocaine. (Jules Gibson photo)
Acting CANU Head Orvil Nedd told reporters the cocaine was obviously being prepared to be shipped out of Guyana but he could not say where the cocaine might have been heading.
He described this method of shipping the illegal substance as one he had "never seen before", noting that the final package looked like regular salted fish.
He said he suspected that cocaine might have been shipped out using this very method in the past.
He said CANU would retain possession of the substance until it was marked and sampled in the presence of those arrested.
Nedd told the media that officers had gone to the home of one of the men to conduct a search and it was possible that more persons could also be arrested.
Three of the arrested men sat quietly, while the fourth man paced the area.
The CANU officers also seized a quantity of scissors, rolling pins, knives, a gas cylinder and stove and the mesh, which the fish was being placed on to dry.
Nedd assessed the street value of yesterday's find at more than US$500,000.
Since the year started CANU has made a number of busts, but of small amounts of cocaine in footwear, the false bottoms of suitcases and lotion bottles.
Lumber, fish, cabbage, rum, pholourie, egg balls, molasses and coconuts are only some of the items which drug mules have tried in their efforts to ship out the illegal substance.