A Surinamese-based Guyanese woman has been arrested after attempting to smuggle, what appears to be cocaine, through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
The 42-year-old mother of seven children – Tommy Ann Bunbury – was destined for the John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in the United States of America.
In a statement, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) said the “suspected cocaine was neatly concealed in cavities in a book, make-up, personal items and office stationaries.” The suspected cocaine amounted to 1.948 kilograms.
CANU said, Bunbury, a food vendor at Downtown café Wiek Straat Paramaribo, Suriname, was arrested on Monday night after being intercepted with suspected cocaine.
CANU officers had carried out a search on the mother of seven, an outgoing passenger, who was booked to travel on Flight 2D 231 destined for JFK New York via Eastern Airlines. She had travelled from Suriname to Guyana recently to embark on the flight.
“The Officer conducted a search on two suitcases and on her carry-on piece and a number of objects were probed including hard cover book, hand bag, make up kits, deodorants, nail polish covers, mascara and permanent markers and whitish substances suspected to be cocaine emanated from the said objects,” CANU detailed.
It was then that the suspect was arrested and taken to CANU pending the completion of the investigation.
Bunbury reportedly resides at Condor Straat #1 Paramaribo, Suriname and Lot 10 Victoria Road, Plaisance, East Coast Demerara, Guyana. CANU said Bunbury has been living in Suriname for the past six years, however, she periodically visits Guyana to fulfill immigration obligations.
