11th of February, 2022. Region 9, Guyana, South America
Last updated: February 11, 2022 at 21:07 pmOn the 9th of February, 2022, this publication published an article of a citizen’s account of an event which allegedly took place in Lethem on the 8th of February. You can read the article here: CANU Officers in Region 9 Allegedly Used Uniform to Confiscate Goods for Personal Use. CANU, via its Facebook page, has officially responded to the article, denying the allegations contained within article.
This publication wishes to emphasize that, while we published the citizen’s account of what transpired, at no point did we accuse the CANU officials or assert that the story is irrefutably true.
STATEMENT FROM CANU
The Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) yet again wishes to denounce claims made in the media aimed at severing our integrity.
The unit would have noted an article titled “CANU Officers in Region 9 Allegedly Used Uniform to Confiscate Goods for Personal Use” and wishes to state that the allegations made in this article are untrue.
CANU ranks, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and their Brazilian counterparts engaged in a joint operation in the Rupununi area between February 7th and February 10th, where several uncustomed goods were confiscated.
The items seized in our intelligence-sharing operation included several cases of alcoholic beverages such as Itaipava, Skarloff, Blackstone, Camelinho Wine, Pergola, Quinta Do Mongado, and Don Bosco wine. As a result of this operation, CANU officers received further intelligence which led to a search at a residence in Palm Street, Lethem.
There, another seizure of one hundred (100) cases of foreign beers was made, along with the arrest of two (2) Venezuelan nationals.
Despite the erroneous reports that were made via social media and in news articles, our agency wishes to report that, all of the seized uncustomed goods including the alcohol were handed over to GRA along with detained individuals.
The total value of the seized items is over $700,000.00 GYD. These operations are aimed at targeting groups that are engaged in the smuggling of various goods across our border from Brazil. CANU has been observant of constant fictitious reports being published in the media, hinting that there are elements bent on besmirching the reputation of our officers and the integrity of operations.
Nevertheless, we wish to commend the officers conducting these operations for their continued professionalism during the execution of their duties with the full support from the management of the unit. CANU would also like to remind the general public that the smuggling of narcotics and other uncustomed goods is illegal and those found in possession of same, and/or are found transporting or storing them will be prosecuted accordingly.
CANU – 11th February, 2022.
