‘We have returned to a narco-state’ – Harmon

Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon on Monday expressed concern about the manner in which the Government is handling the investigations into the Belgian drug bust which originated from Guyana.

Last week, Belgian police seized 11.5 tons of cocaine from Guyana and according to federal prosecutors, the street value of the drug is estimated at €900 million or approximately GYD $222B.

“[This is] the largest overseas drug bust ever, worldwide,” federal prosecutors said to Belgian media.
Several persons have since been arrested and others are wanted in relation to the drug bust.

“The signs are clear for every Guyanese to see what is happening under the PPP regime. We have returned to being a narco-state but now we are breaking global records for cocaine shipments,” Harmon said at his weekly press conference.

The former Minister of State under the APNU+AFC coalition said it is mind-boggling that thus far law enforcement officials have been unable to determine who shipped the cocaine out of the country.

“It is an astonishing amount and one wonders how such a huge amount of cocaine was packed into containers and got through a wharf where containers are scanned and which is monitored by CCTV cameras, along with the GRA officials stationed there,” Harmon said.

He said last week’s drug bust in Belgium, the last of three since the PPP’s return to office, has brought shame to the people of Guyana.
The Opposition Leader said that drug bust is the third to occur since the PPP Government took office in August.

He reminded that in August, customs officials in the Port of Hamburg — Germany’s largest seaport — reported one of the port’s largest drug busts after some 47 large packages of cocaine were found hidden between sacks of rice coming from Guyana.

The Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) has contended that it found no evidence to suggest that the cocaine discovered in Germany came from Guyana.
Harmon noted too the aircraft found at Nine Miles airstrip, Cuyuni- Mazaruni (Region Seven) with 390 kilograms of cocaine on September 15, 2020.
“What is significant is that in all of this, no one has appeared in Court. It is also clear that Irfaan Ali and Bharat Jagdeo must bear strict responsibility for this state of affairs. Since they came to office, they dismantled the National Anti-Narcotics Agency (NANA), and reinstated the Head of CANU who was dismissed,” Harmon said.