By Travis Chase | HGP Nightly News|
Schoonord, Guyana — A 27-year-old Venezuelan national has become the latest individual formally charged and remanded to prison as law enforcement authorities aggressively dismantle a sophisticated, cross-border firearms trafficking network. The widening investigation follows the historic seizure of 33 military-grade assault rifles uncovered in two high-stakes operations executed less than a month apart.
Jonathan David Gans, a 27-year-old Venezuelan construction worker residing locally at Great Diamond, East Bank Demerara, appeared under heavy armed guard before Magistrate Rondell Weever at the Wales Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Gans was arraigned on indictments of Possession of a Firearm Without a License and Possession of Ammunition Without a License, contrary to Section 16(2)(a) of the Firearms Act.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to both charges. However, citing the extreme severity of the offenses and structural flight risks, Magistrate Weever ordered Gans remanded to the Georgetown unsafe holding facility until his next scheduled court appearance on July 14, 2026.
Gans was intercepted by tactical ranks on June 11, 2026, during a targeted sting operation in Schoonord, West Bank Demerara. Ballistics and intelligence sweeps have tightly linked his arrest to the massive cache of 23 AK-47 assault rifles and 529 rounds of matching live ammunition discovered inside motor vehicle PAN 3673 just days prior.
The Schoonord breakthrough marked the state’s second major weapons disruption within a 21-day window. The initial multi-agency breakthrough occurred on May 22, 2026, along the No. 11 Village Public Road on the Corentyne, Berbice corridor, where highway traffic ranks discovered 10 AK-47 rifles hidden inside a commercial vehicle.
Local taxi driver Stephen Rajah was subsequently charged and granted bail for his role in the Corentyne logistics chain, while co-conspirators Gregory Persaud and Antonio Alonzo Lawrie were also subsequently captured, arraigned, and locked down.
The elite Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has since expanded its operational dragnet to target high-level financiers of the illicit enterprise. High-profile city businessman Randy Jagdeo surrendered directly to major crimes detectives on Sunday morning, hours after the Guyana Police Force (GPF) broadcasted a national wanted bulletin detailing his suspected orchestrations behind the 23-rifle Schoonord cache. Jagdeo remains in solitary confinement undergoing intense interrogation.
Simultaneously, a fresh wanted bulletin has been permanently issued for a fugitive identified as Orlando Gabriel, wanted for unlawful possession and logistical distribution of military firearms.
Highly placed national security sources have revealed that the 33 combined AK-47 rifles seized across both operational fronts were systematically smuggled into Guyana via illegal maritime routes and were destined for heavily armed criminal syndicates operating deeper within the South American continent.
Senior state intelligence officials admit they are deeply worried over the unprecedented scale, organizational funding, and operational sophistication of the illegal firearms trafficking networks utilizing Guyana’s porous borders and coastlines as international transshipment points.
