…work also being done in other areas to rid streets of drugs – CANU Head
The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) will be working closely with other sectoral agencies and the Education Ministry to tackle the issue of illegal drugs making their way into schools.
This is according to Head of that drug enforcement body, James Singh, on Thursday during an interview with reporters.
Singh noted that his unit has welcomed the collaboration with the joint services to ensure that the schools are rid of drugs, especially ecstasy pills. In the past, those pills have been found in secondary schools.
In fact, back in 2019, Police had uncovered an organised ring, the players of which were engaged in trafficking of the date-rape drug ecstasy by utilising school-age girls in the trade. This had come to light after a Stewartville Secondary School girl had gone missing.
Singh has said several new types of drugs are surfacing in society, and CANU would make every effort to get rid of them before the situation escalates.
“So we’re working with the Ministry of Education and other agencies to sensitise and to develop a programme that allows us to go into various schools around the region, (in order to) sensitise persons about the effects of narcotics,” he divulged.
Further, he said, the community, and more so the teachers, would play a crucial role in assisting CANU to implement the initiative.
“So, it’s not only about working with the students, but also working with the teachers. They must also be able to see the behavioural patterns of persons; that gives us a better idea if persons are on drugs or something else, so we can work with them also,” Singh explained.
The CANU Head added that CANU and the sectoral agencies have been doing some work in several communities, and, as such, he implored citizens to come forward with information that could lead to the arrest of drug traffickers in their respective communities.
“We’re doing a lot of work in various communities, and the aim here is to target persons who are engaged in selling narcotics, regardless of where, whether it is close by a school or even in that community itself; and that’s why again I will ask…if you know persons are engaged in selling narcotics within your community anywhere, let us know confidentially, and we will take the necessary action,” Singh pleaded.
CANU has only recently destroyed over US$2.5 million in drugs seized from 2021, following the closure of the court cases.
It has been reported that the Unit had intercepted 2.1 tonnes of cannabis and 41 kilogrammes of cocaine.
A breakdown of the ganja seized in the various regions of Guyana showed that interceptions occurred as follows: a whopping 1027 kilogrammes in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); 481 kilogrammes in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); 457 kilogrammes in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); 6.4 kilogrammes in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and 4.4 kilogrammes in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
In respect to cocaine interceptions countrywide, 23.5 kilogrammes were seized in Region Four; 17.4 kilogrammes in Region Two, and a small amount of 0.16 kilogramme in Region Six.
In addition, 3.1 kilogrammes of ecstasy were confiscated in Region Four, and a small amount of Crystal Methamphetamine and Hashish were seized.
In 2020, CANU had seized 32 kilogrammes of cocaine and 135 kilogrammes of cannabis. Last September, CANU and the Guyana Police Force had destroyed over $100 million in illicit drugs, including cocaine and marijuana that had been seized over the past two years.
