A successful sting operation has led to the transfer of a traffic rank attached to the Brickdam Police Station after he was caught red-handed extorting money from a minibus driver on Wednesday last.
Based on information received, the minibus was intercepted in the vicinity of Stabroek Market and upon inspection of the vehicle’s documents, the rank realised that the fitness certificate was missing.
Upon enquiring of the driver, he was told that the missing document was at home. As such, the rank kept the insurance and driver’s licence of the bus driver and sent him home to retrieve the fitness certificate.
He was also instructed to return “with nothing less than $5000”. This development was reported to Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn and a sting operation was quickly planned.
During the exercise, a senior Ministry official photographed the serial numbers of the money and recorded the transaction on video.
The traffic rank was escorted back to the Brickdam Police Station, where he was interrogated by senior Police Officers followed by an investigation.
As a result, the rank was immediately removed from the traffic department.
A statement issued by the Ministry related that the incident signalled a warning that the Home Affairs Ministry has zero tolerance for corruption and was determined to weed out those who continue to put the integrity of the Guyana Police Force at stake.
