By Kurt Campbell
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira says the sharing of information between developed countries and those that are still developing (Guyana) has always been a challenge.
She was at the time providing an update on a response from the US Authorities following Guyana’s request for information they may have on local drug lords after news surfaced earlier in the week which pointed to a link between local narcotic traffickers and major international drug mafias.
According to the Presidential Advisor, no information in that regard has been forthcoming.
President Donald Ramotar had instructed Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee to write to US Authorities requesting any information they may have that can help them to nab local narco traffickers after Guyana was named among other ports used by an international alliance between the New York Mafia and a powerful crime syndicate in Italy to smuggle drugs in international media reports on Tuesday, February 11.
Teixeira said usually it takes time for this information to be released and in some cases it is never shared. She said there were instances in the past where money was found and could not be traced because of other countries’ privacy rules.
“We hope we will get a response soon because the usual response time is not what we would expect.”
She said Guyana has however signed onto several international conventions which should make the process easier but decried Guyana’s deficiencies in its fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
On Tuesday (February 11), news surfaced that more than 20 gangsters were busted in New York for drug trafficking and other offenses.
The New York Mafia reportedly conspired with the Italian syndicate to traffic cocaine and heroin stashed in shipments of pineapples, frozen fish and other food.
The shipments traveled through ports in Guyana, where Mexican drug cartel members facilitated deliveries, prosecutors said.
