By Fareeza Haniff
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Leader of the main opposition – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), David Granger has expressed the Party’s alarm at the recent report connecting Guyana to the international drug mafia.
At a press conference on Thursday, February 13, Granger told reporters that the crime is on the increase as it is driving up the country’s rate of money – laundering, gun – running, execution murders and armed robberies.
According to Granger, “Violent crime is scaring foreign investors, driving away the educated elite, undermining economic growth and impeding social development.”
Granger is of the view that the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has not seriously confronted the challenge of narcotics – trafficking. He said that the government over the last decade evaded the establishment of a permanent US Drug Enforcement Administration Office.
“APNU is of the view that the prevalence of narco – trafficking is a direct result of the failure of the Ministry of Home Affairs to implement a credible counter – narcotics strategy to enforce domestic laws and to bring down traffickers before the Courts,” Granger said.
He further noted that the current – Italy cocaine conspiracy confirms that Guyana is drifting towards becoming a narco – state.
The international media reported that two dozen suspected narco – traffickers linked to the Gambino and Bonanno Crime families and the Italian crime syndicate were arrested earlier in the week.
It was noted that the clans were in the advanced stage to smuggle some 1,000 pounds of pure cocaine from Guyana to the port of Gioia Tauro in Calabria. Italian investigators estimated the street value of the shipment to be US$1B.
The conspiracy began to unravel when the Malaysian news agency reported that a container from Guyana was intercepted with cocaine in coconut milk in November 2012.
