Matthews Ridge drug bust highlights need for rigid policing of illegal airstrips – PNCR

Sep 06, 2024 News

The Joint Services with support from the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), carried out an operation in Region One which led to the discovery of four tonnes of cocaine, and the illegal airstrip.

Kaieteur News – The Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR) on Thursday said that the $40.7B drug bust at Matthews Ridge, Region One by ranks of the Joint Services speaks to the need for better monitoring mechanisms to be put in place to detect illegal airstrips in the hinterland.

In a statement, the opposition party said that the lack of effective monitoring has far-reaching implications for the country’s national security and territorial integrity.

More than four tonnes of cocaine, with a street value of some G$40.7 billion (176 million Euros), were unearthed in several bunkers off an illegal airstrip near Matthew Ridge, Region One (Barima-Waini).

The narcotics, which were found close to the Clandestine Airstrip on Saturday, were destroyed after samples were extracted to assist with further investigations.

Following the bust, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) disclosed that its officers, in collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Special Forces Unit with support from the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), carried out the operation in Region One which led to the discovery of the illegal airstrip.

However, the PNCR in its statement said the joint operation exposes several breaches and failings which, if not vigorously confronted and addressed, would see Guyana remaining a major trans-shipment point for drug trafficking and a locus for other aspects of trans-national organized crimes, such as gun smuggling and trafficking in persons.

To this end, the party stressed the need for the monitoring of undetected construction and maintenance of illegal airstrips in the hinterland.

“Constructing and preserving airstrips in Guyana’s hinterland would require the use of manpower and heavy-duty machinery, involve noisy and extensive deforestation and construction operations, and leave telltale footprints that could be easily detectable from the ground and air,” the party said.

The PNCR said: “How could such airstrips be constructed in secrecy is a question the government must answer. If, as reported, that such airstrips are monitored by the GDF, why are they not promptly destroyed as a matter of policy? We, in the PNCR/APNU, remain skeptical that Guyana has an effective system to detect, let alone to destroy, these illegal airstrips.”

Further, the Opposition party suggested that Guyanese are doubtful of the Joint Services ability to detect and track illegal flights into the country. The party said that there is need for adequate satellite and ground surveillance systems to be put in place to detect and track all flights into Guyana.

The party said that the Guyana Police Force was not involved in the major drug bust while noting that “Unconfirmed reports even point to the likely involvement of one or several senior police officers in the concealment of the 4.4 tonne cocaine cache.”

“The dire implications of this development cannot be over-stated. For a major arm of our law enforcement apparatus to be sidelined, distrusted, and likely compromised amounts to a national crisis. Such a police force constitutes a national security threat in itself. We, in the PNCR/APNU, have repeatedly raised the alarm over this crisis in policing in Guyana. We have highlighted the fact that several high-ranking officers are likely complicit in crime. The PPP government has chosen to ignore these concerns for its own political and criminal agenda. The Mathews Ridge seizure amply demonstrates that the GPF is distrusted not only by citizens, but even by its sister law enforcement agencies,” the party said.

Meanwhile, the PNCR said that as the next government it will confront drug trafficking.

“One of our main approaches will be to win the trust and cooperation of residents in our Hinterland communities in making them a major line of defence and source of intelligence…We will also invest in training and technologies to boost our detection and surveillance capacity. We will professionalize the police force and restore and enhance its credibility and effectiveness. None of this will occur under the current PPP government,” the party added.

• bust, cocaine, hinterland, illegal airstrip, Monitoring