HGP Nightly News – Foreign trafficking networks are intensifying efforts to move narcotics through Guyana to more lucrative overseas markets, according to Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit Director James Singh, who says increased seizures point to growing pressure on the country’s borders.
Speaking during a drug-destruction exercise on Saturday, Singh said Guyana’s geographical position between major supply areas and consumer markets makes it attractive to traffickers seeking routes with fewer risks.
“Guyana, being in the middle between the suppliers and the consumers…there has been a bigger push to move the narcotics through here,” Singh told reporters.
The CANU director pointed to a recent operation involving an alleged foreign drug-trafficking organisation that attempted to bring narcotics into Guyana for onward shipment.
He said investigators identified the network, conducted several operations and placed some of its alleged members before the courts. The scale of that operation, Singh argued, demonstrated why authorities should be concerned about Guyana being used as a gateway for international trafficking.
The increased activity comes as CANU records a rise in the quantity of narcotics intercepted during the first half of the year.
Guyana’s extensive land and maritime borders have long presented enforcement challenges, particularly because traffickers can exploit remote rivers, airstrips and coastal routes. Authorities have consequently increased cooperation with local and international law-enforcement agencies.
Singh previously said evidence suggested that approximately 90 per cent of the cocaine seized by CANU had entered Guyana through Venezuela. He clarified that this did not necessarily establish where the drugs originated, but identified Venezuela as their last known location before entering Guyana.
Several Venezuelan nationals have also been arrested in connection with narcotics investigations, he said.
According to Singh, attempts by CANU to establish greater cooperation with counterparts in Venezuela have so far produced limited results. The agency has instead continued working with other local and overseas partners to disrupt trafficking networks.
Those operations have also generated security concerns. Singh disclosed that suspected criminal groups linked to Venezuela had threatened him, prompting local authorities to work with international partners to identify the source.
While acknowledging concerns for his safety and that of other law-enforcement officers, Singh said the government had provided additional equipment to help CANU conduct operations more safely.
He also credited support from agencies such as the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, saying international collaboration remains critical to preventing foreign criminal organisations from establishing Guyana as a major narcotics-transshipment route.
