28 april 2005
Plaisance stabbing death -Wanted man in custody
Forbes Smartt
Forbes Smartt, 23, called 'Kevin', was turned into police at Whim, Berbice by his relatives yesterday afternoon. Earlier in the day, the police had put out a wanted bulletin for him. Williams was stabbed in her right ear and died while receiving treatment. Yesterday, her mother was still in shock when this newspaper visited their Plaisance home.
Schenella Williams
Williams' sister, Simone Williams, told Stabroek News, her sister met her death after the man cuffed his ex-girlfriend Nakacie Matthews to her mouth and knocked out one of her teeth. Matthews has a child with Smartt. Simone said her sister reprimanded Smartt and he reportedly responded, "You don't know who I am."
Williams then went about her business. She had just finished preparing a meal and was moving her gas bottle into her bedroom, which she usually did after cooking, when she remembered leaving a knife on the television stand.
Williams enquired about the knife, her sister said, but the man said he knew nothing about it. "After that he pointed it to my sister and said 'you don't know who I am,'" Simone related.
The man then raised the knife at Simone and Williams put herself between them, protecting her sister. She then pushed in the bedroom door but he pushed it back and stabbed her in the right ear. Williams ran out of the house and landed on her belly on the dam where she was reportedly breathing with difficulty.
The man, who is said to be an ex-soldier, ran back into the house to Simone who was at the time holding her eight-month-old baby. "He pointed the knife to my daughter. I dropped her and I started to holla fuh murda and ah fight wid he," said Simone. The man only ran away when neighbours started to enter the yard.
The incident occurred around 5 pm at 99 Graham Street, Plaisance where Williams had lived with her reputed husband Devon Henry, her sister Simone, her sister's daughter and the suspect. The man was said to have threatened the lives of Williams and her sister on many occasions.
Williams was a former student of Lodge Community High School. She has left to mourn her four sisters, two brothers, her mother and foster father. Friends and family of Williams told Stabroek News that she was a very disciplined and hard-working girl. Police said the murder weapon was in custody while the investigation continues. (Stabroek News)
Human trafficking 'wreaking havoc' in Caribbean
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP): The Caribbean Community will craft a regional strategy to combat human trafficking, a crime that is "wreaking havoc" in the region, a top Caricom official said Wednesday.
Human trafficking was added to the regional agenda after discussions between the 15-member Caricom and the International Organisation for Migration, said Edward Greene, Caricom assistant secretary general for human and social development.
"There were elements and traces of increases in our region and indeed what we decided to do was to put it on the agenda to sensitize the people, who do policies, with respect to social development because you have to nip things in the bud," Greene said.
Haitians and Dominican Republicans are believed to be among two of the major sources of trafficked persons to the rest of the Caribbean, adding problems to the region's fight against HIV/AIDS, Greene said.
Trafficking in women and children is "wreaking havoc on many of our member states," he said at the opening here of Caricom's three-day Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD). (Caribbean Net News)
27 april 2005
Mabaruma teacher charged over shooting death of lover -granted $100,000 bail
Dennis PersaudThe teacher accused of shooting her lover to death last December in Mabaruma, North West District, while he lay asleep in bed with another woman appeared in court yesterday on a charge of manslaughter.
Nicole Williams, also called Avril, was not required to plead to the indictable charge and was granted $100,000 bail by Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan. Magistrate Sullivan also ordered Williams to lodge her passport with the police.
It is alleged that Williams of Wauna Scheme, North West District, unlawfully killed Dennis Persaud on December 20 last year.
Police alleged that Williams and Persaud were in a live-in relationship. Shortly before that relationship Persaud had separated from another woman. However, at some point that relationship resumed. Two months later the woman migrated to the US and the relationship between him and Williams continued. However, the US-based woman and Persaud communicated on the phone and in letters. While this was going on, Williams and Persaud were living together. The other woman later returned to Guyana and Persaud went to her home. Williams learnt that Persaud was at the woman's home and reportedly picked up a shotgun belonging to him and went to the home.
Williams allegedly barged into the woman's bedroom where she saw Persaud and the woman asleep in bed. The accused reportedly discharged a single shot which hit him in the chest.
Williams was represented by attorney-at-law Michael Somersall. Somersall in his bail application told the court that his client was a teacher and a respectable member of her community. The defence counsel said that there was just circumstantial evidence against his client. Somersall informed the court that his client had to move to the city to escape the harassment being meted out to her by relatives of the deceased.
Police prosecutor Kevin Adonis in response objected to bail on the grounds that defence counsel did not prove to the court that his client was not a flight risk. Adonis told the court that the country's borders are porous and the district in which Williams lives was close to the border. After hearing both sides, the magistrate granted Williams bail.
However, before bail was granted Adonis asked the court to have Williams lodge her passport. The magistrate granted that request and also ordered Williams to lodge $100,000 bail. The matter continues on May 16 at the Mabaruma Magistrate's Court. (Stabroek News)
26 april 2005
Suriname police seize 300 kg cocaine
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Police in Suriname seized about 300 kg cocaine in a drug bust last Friday night. In a well planned and executed operation by the SWAT-team, the drug were seized in a house in the capital Paramaribo.
The night raid, in which the SWAT-team was assisted by the Narcotics Unit, also confiscated a couple of hand grenades and a quantity ammunition for shotguns and pistols, along with a motorcar.
Police also nabbed two male suspects (35 and 27) in the house. Police sources told Caribbean Net News that probably more arrest will be made in the near future. The Friday night seizure was one of the biggest in recent years in Suriname.
Last year police confiscated about 300 kg cocaine when a drug ring of more than 20 people was arrested, including the so called Surinamese ‘Pablo Escobar’. In 2003 police were also successful when, in a joint-operation with the army, 347 kg cocaine was captured along with two Cessna airplanes, jet fuel and grenades. There is no conviction yet in the trials of these suspects.
In the late 80s and 90s Suriname became more and more a transition point for drugs from Columbia en route to Holland and the United States of America. There is evidence that there is an active arms for cocaine trade on Surinamese soil, but until now only a few cases were discovered and solved.
It is believed that the theft of a large number of automatic rifles and pistols from the Central Intelligence and Security Service (CIVD) in July 2003 was also drug-related. Main suspect Dino Bouterse, son of opposition leader and former army commander Desi Bouterse, was acquitted because of lack of evidence. (Ivan Cairo / Caribbean Net News)
'I use it to settle me head, control me mind' - says teen with ganja
He has to do six months of community service and if he fails to pay the fine he will spend twenty days in prison.
Keron Nicholson, 19, of Angoy's Avenue, New Amsterdam pleaded guilty to the possession of narcotics charge. In his explanation to the court Nicholson said, "I use it to settle me head, to control me mind."
25 april 2005
Suriname appoints new Attorney General
Subhaas Punwasi
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Acting Attorney General, Subhaas Punwasi, has been appointed the new Attorney General of Suriname. His appointment was approved last Wednesday at a cabinet meeting. Vice-president Jules Ajodhia told reporters during his weekly press briefing last week that the authorization came after the approval of Court of Justice.
By virtue of the constitution it is mandatory that the Court of Justice gives its approval of any candidate for the position of Attorney General.
The government still has to nominate a new president for the Court of Justice, a position that has been vacant since mid-90s. Consecutive governments were not able to come up with an acceptable candidate. Judges who were interested in the position and eligible resigned after years of waiting for the Venetiaan administration to make a decision. The court turned down the nomination of acting court president John von Niesewand, when the government presented him to be the next president.
It is expected that the new Attorney General will assume office as early as May 1, when the paperwork for his nomination has been finalized. At the cabinet meeting Wednesday the expansion of the Court of Justice with two new judges was also sanctioned. This brings the number of permanent judges to eleven, but according to experts Suriname needs at least 50 judges to guarantee a speedy legal system.
The approval of Mr Punwasi comes after years of debate over who to appoint to the position. The nomination of an Attorney General in 1999 by the Wijdenbosch administration without the mandatory consent of the Court of Justice led to serious public outrage and demonstrations. Weeks of demonstrations by all segments of society eventually led to early elections in May 2000. President Jules Wijdenbosch was then voted out of office and his party, DNP-2000, won only three seats in parliament. (Ivan Cairo/Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent)
24 april 2005
Police arrest security guard in airport shooting incident
Police have arrested an airport security guard in connection with the shooting of Leon Barker, who sustained a wound to the neck after an argument with a man at the Cheddi Jagan Airport on Friday. Police confirmed yesterday that the man had been taken into custody. Mean- while, 28-year-old Barker, called Junior B, of 305 Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara, was still nursing the wound in the right side of his neck in hospital and was listed in critical condition. Barker's cousin, Leon Archer, who took him to hospital on Friday, had said that the shooting stemmed from an altercation between his cousin and the shooter on Thursday. On Friday, Barker met the man at the airport and his assailant taunted him with the firearm. Barker asked the man why he was playing with the gun and told him he should put it up when the man turned the weapon at him and fired, hitting him in the neck. (Stabroek News)
23 april 2005
Youth Sex Time Bomb
How does a country prevent itself from becoming synonymous with sex? This is the challenge facing CARICOM’s most southern member, Suriname, which seems well on the road to exactly that, and for good reason.
It is the only country in the grouping with an official commercial sex workers’ organisation. It also has licensed brothels, sex shops, documented cases of trafficking in women, confirmed evidence of children as young as four years old being forced into sex work, high teen pregnancies, and one of the highest prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in the region.
In this, the first segment of a five-part series, we highlight the situation in Suriname and the measures being taken by the authorities there to combat it.
This series comes out of a five-day workshop held last week in Suriname by the Special Programme on Sexually Transmitted Infections of the Caribbean Epidemiological Centre (CAREC/PAHO/WHO). Its goal was to sensitise journalists there on the issues that can further fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region, and some of the approaches which can be taken to deal with them.
This series is edited by Sanka Price with contributions from Surinamese journalists Gray Ferrier, Ingrid Arga, Chantal Romeo and Carlos Helberg.
SEX IS JUST an act to pass the time for many youths in Suriname today, contends a noted psychologist. She said children are having sex just for the sake of doing it. They don’t do it because they think they are in love, or are in a relationship, or have any emotional feelings for the person.
It has just become their way of passing the time, like a form of recreation, because they think all of their friends are also doing it. The psychologist also thinks that too many young people have few expectations and instead rely on instant gratification without regard to the consequences of their actions. If nothing is done to redirect this behaviour, warned Dr Lilian Ferrier, Suriname faces a bleak future.
“In the primary schools the youngsters see sex as a game; especially those from the poorer communities where living conditions expose them to this,” said Ferrier. “Some of the boys would say ‘sex is my most favourite sport. If you get the chance to do it, you must do it’. “They don’t know what to do in their spare time and, because there are no activities as well for them, they are trying to look for something. But ask them what they want to do with their lives. They can’t answer you, because they have never thought of it.
“If you ask them, ‘why do you have a boyfriend?’ their answer will be ‘because everybody has one’. “Between the ages of 10 and 14 years both girls and boys are sexually active, and some of those who become involved in prostitution are between these ages. They see this as a source of income and not many of these boys use protection. You also have 14-year-old boys who have sex with both boys and girls, and some have sex with older men for money,” said Ferrier.
She said the rampant sexuality among teens can be measured in the number of teen births annually, but claimed that as many abortions as births take place in Suriname. The doctor said too many teens have a misconception about AIDS feeling if they don’t talk about it, it would not happen to them. “You are giving them the information, but they are not picking it up. I know a school where six of the youngsters are HIV positive.” For these reasons, said Ferrier, “Suriname is sitting on a bomb”.
The Holland-trained psychologist, who is the director of the non-governmental organisation, Foundation for Human Development in Suriname, said the attitude of the youth was in part influenced by the culture of their community, and the attitude of their parents and other adults around them. As an example, she said, Maroon females and those from some Javanese groups who are not married by the time they reach 21 and have a child, are looked down on by their community. This is why some of them engage in sex at an early age.
For some others, because of the pervasiveness of sex, it is seen more as a “pastime, as a game and as an experiment”. They do not see sexuality in the context of a love relationship, said Ferrier. And because of this many don’t have safe sex. Apart from sexually-transmitted infections, this activity can often lead to pregnancy. Here again, culture wise, the boys are proud to become a father, while a teenage mother tends to see her pregnancy as a mistake.
“There was a boy of 14 who had sexual relations with the whole female football team and he was proud to be a father,” Ferrier quipped. Television is also playing a disruptive role, said the psychologist, as the children watch sexual encounters on screen and try imitating them. Sex books and DVDs too are easily accessible and again the youth see these things and want to try them.
Another significant problem faced in Suriname, said Ferrier, is that there is little communication between parents and children, especially when it comes to sex, and because of this the children don’t know how to express their feelings. “Parents don’t talk with their children about sex,” she said. Many parents’ ideas are considered old-fashioned by their children, said Ferrier, and they don’t seem to consider their children’s feelings. “Young girls are being isolated. Because of this the girls are doing things behind their parents’ backs,” said Ferrier.
Because of this attitude, she said the youth are getting their sexual education from their peers. In the case of boys, they seem to only think about the beautiful figure or body the girl has, and want to have sex with them. But they don’t know how to show appreciation for the girl by complimenting her on how nice her hair looks or how beautiful her shoes are.
In the case of girls, they too don’t know how to show appreciation because they are afraid any compliment made to boys would be misunderstood. These factors, said Ferrier, have led to a volatile situation and it is contributing to the promiscuity within the society and making efforts to manage the AIDS problem even more difficult. “You are facing three worlds; one, the children; two, the teenagers; and three, the adults. Every group is doing its thing its way with all the consequences. They all know about AIDS. The information has reached them, but still they do it all. It is always about sex.”
Another problem cited for the increased sexual activity among young people in Suriname is the influence of sugar daddies. “You can better call it the drug dealers’ syndrome. They have a lot of easy money and can buy a lot of things, including girls. The youth who are going with these men are doing so only to buy nice clothes, shoes and the most modern cell phones. “You have a short-time motel where children are being taken for sex in their [elementary] school uniform. There are also no controls at some of the sex clubs and casinos,” charged Ferrier, who claimed that girls as young as 13 sometimes got into some of these buildings. (Barbados Nation Online newspaper)
22 april 2005
Chef remanded over cocaine in carry-on luggage at airport
Ahamad Ali
A 31-year-old chef accused of having a quantity of cocaine in the lining of his carry-on luggage while he was an outgoing passenger at the airport at Timehri, was yesterday remanded to prison by Magistrate Maxwell Edwards.
Ahamad Ali of 114 Duke Street, Kingston allegedly had one kilogramme 475.9 grammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, on Tuesday.
Police alleged that Ali checked in to board a BWIA flight bound for Trinidad. When he passed through the internal scanner, he presented his black carry-on suitcase to be checked. The officer on duty observed that the suitcase was unusually heavy though it contained just a few pieces of clothing.
The officer became suspicious and punctured the lining of the suitcase where cocaine was reportedly discovered. Ali was told of the offence committed and was arrested. Ali pleaded not guilty to the charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking and he has to return to Providence Magistrate's Court next Wednesday. (Stabroek News)
Acting Chancellor sworn in
President Bharrat Jagdeo swears in Chief Justice Carl Singh as acting Chancellor. Director of Protocol Vic Persaud is at centre. (Photo courtesy Office of the President)
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday swore in Chief Justice Carl Singh as acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
It said the ceremony at the Office of the President was witnessed by Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, Supreme Court Registrar Sita Ramlall and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Legal Affairs Mitra-Devi Ally.
The President and Opposition Leader Robert Corbin have started consultations on the appointment of a new Chancellor, the agency noted. Former Chancellor Desiree Bernard demitted office to take up the post of a judge in the Caribbean Court of Justice formally launched last week.
GINA said it was agreed that the President and Opposition Leader will continue consultations and Chief Justice Singh will act until an agreement is reached on a new Chancellor. (Guyana Cronicle)
21 april 2005
Antigua-Barbuda police upgrade skills in information technology
Officers during the training programme
ST JOHN'S, Antigua: The first group of sixty officers from the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda on Monday commenced training in Information Technology as part of a government programme to fully computerize and network all police stations in the country.
In addressing the group of officers, Prime Minister Spencer who is responsible for the police noted that Information Technology can be used by the Police as a modern communication tool and that the Government recognizes the need for the law enforcement agencies to be linked to the super information highway.
The country’s leader further noted that it is important for the lawmen to grasp the knowledge as criminals are becoming more sophisticated utilizing modern technology to commit crimes.
“My government is committed to ensuring the integration and adaptation of state-of-the-art information and communication technologies in all spheres of our daily life, in education, health, production, commerce, services, governance systems, law enforcement, entertainment and social interactions,” the Prime Minister outlined.
Minister responsible for Information and Broadcasting, Dr Edmond Mansoor noted that one of the thrust of the UPP Administration to create an intelligent nation, is ensuring that information technology skills are widely disseminated. Participants for the three week training programme at the Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology are drawn from all departments of the Royal Police Force.
On April, 1, Dr. Mansoor, through the combined efforts of the Government’s Information Technology Centre and IT Provider Antigua Computer Technology ACT, presented the officers at the Dockyard Police Station with a Pentium Computer System and high speed internet access. Throughout the coming weeks, Police Stations in Grays Farm, Bolans, Willikies, Parham, the CID Department in St. John’s and the sister island Barbuda, will receive computers and high speech Internet connections.
A UPP Administration policy is to computerize police records to enable rapid profile scans, motor vehicle identification, and fingerprint matching and to improve crime-fighting and efficiency. (Caribbean Net News/Photo: Maurice F. Merchant)
19 april 2005
Man jailed for 18 months over 'throwaway' police uniforms
Tyon Benn of Liverpool Village, Corentyne, pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession charge.
According to the police report on April 15 the police went to the home of Benn at Liverpool Village, Corentyne, Berbice, and conducted a search in his presence. Two police regulation pants, one pair of regulation boots and one regulation belt were found and were suspected to be stolen or unlawfully obtained.
When questioned Benn said he had applied to join the police force and that while he was at the Mounted Branch in Georgetown the articles were being thrown away and he collected them. He was arrested and charged with the offence. When asked by the magistrate whether he had anything to say Benn stated that he had nothing to say. (Stabroek News)
17 april 2005
`Fear not for justice'
-- pledge at CCJ launch
COURT OATH: former Guyana Chancellor Desiree Bernard takes the oath of office as a CCJ Judge from Trinidad President Maxwell Richards.THE peoples of the Caribbean Community have been given a firm pledge of unvarnished justice by outstanding regional jurist, Michael de la Bastide, with the official birth of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in Port-of-Spain.
His ringing assurance yesterday, that contrasted with lingering reservations and expressed fears of some politicians, parties, lawyers and civil society groups, was in sum: "Have no fear. Justice is assured for all. This is a court you, the people, will come to deeply respect and cherish by its performance based on competence and integrity".
Making the final of a series of "statements" that started with the Secretary General of CARICOM, Edwin Carrington, the 67-year-old retired Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago, said with a wry smile as he stared at the overflowing audience at the spacious Queen's Hall:"If in their acceptance of the recommendation of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) of me as the first President of the CCJ, that I could be pliable, then the Heads of Government of the community may have made a wrong choice with their eyes wide open..."
Earlier hailed by Barbados Chief Justice and chairman of the Regional Task Force for establishment of the CCJ, Sir David Simmons, as "a legal giant" and perhaps the greatest lawyer of the Caribbean for the past 40 years, President de la Bastide commended to the people of CARICOM the "remarkable, unique features" of this newest institution of the community.
First, its uniqueness as two courts in one -- as a trade court with original jurisdiction in settling disputes arising from interpretation of the CARICOM Treaty in the functioning of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy; and Secondly, and ultimately -- hopefully before long -- as the final appellate court for all member states in place of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
LAUNCH POINT: President Bharrat Jagdeo and Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning at the CCJ launch yesterday.
Further, he said, the court was unique in the mechanisms that have been institutionalized -- thanks to "the vision and commitment of past and present Heads of Government" -- to ensure its independence from political manipulations or influence.
Such independence from political intrusion, he explained, related to the complete freedom of the RJLSC in the appointment and removal of any member of the panel of judges (currently six, later to be nine).
And for the Heads of Government to be involved only in the acceptance or rejection by a nominee of the Commission as President, basically on the basis of unanimity. Additionally, the CCJ is to be funded independently from a Trust Fund, established by the Caribbean Development Bank --- which was successful in raising US$100 million for the operations of the court.
There is no representative of the CARICOM governments on the Trust Fund and provisions have been made to protect the unhindered functioning of the court should there be any default in honouring of payments, and dependence on any government. Together, these "unique features make the CCJ an extraordinary, well protected legal institution in the service of the Caribbean people", proudly declared de la Bastide.
Cheers of approval greeted his declaration from the distinguished gathering of regional decision-makers, legal luminaries, representatives of opposition parties, leading non-government organisations, cultural and religious personalities. The occasion started with an inter-faith service, reflecting the multi-ethnicity and religious diversity of the region's peoples and in similar vein were rendered musical items and songs culminating with an inspiring rendition of "We are the world" on the steelpan by the famous Trinidadian exponent of pan music, Lens Boogsie Sharp.
Earlier, with the CCJ President and initial panel of six judges seated on the stage against the backdrop of national flags and overhanging replicas of the court's seal -- a linked CCJ acronym -- and amid cultural presentations, statements were also delivered by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning and the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Kenny Anthony. De la Bastide commended Guyana and Barbados for being in readiness for the general final appellate as well as original jurisdictions of the CCJ and urged other member states to expedite their own arrangements.
Seated among the audience were the President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo and Prime Minister Owen Arthur of Barbados. With them were also their respective parliamentary leaders -- Robert Corbin, leader of the People's National Congress Reform and Clyde Mascoll of the Democratic Labour Party. Corbin, who was accompanied by his wife, said he was "deeply impressed" by the ceremony and was pleased to be part of the historic occasion.
Among noticeable absentee politicians were the opposition leaders of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, and Trinidad and Tobago, Basdeo Panday. Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said he was most happy to witness the official launch of the first phase of the CCJ and was now looking forward to the second step of "national consultations" to hasten the process that would finally result in the CCJ as "our final appellate court, replacing the Privy Council." (Guyana Cronicle/Rickey Singh in Port-of-Spain)
15 april 2005
Victim still critical…
Berbice attempted murder accused further remanded
THE two men, previously refused bail on an attempted murder charge Monday, were further remanded to prison on Wednesday. Magistrate Krishendat Persaud had denied the duo pre-trial freedom earlier in the week, pending a written update on the medical condition of the victim, Everade Downer.
But Frederick Profitt and Royston Alexander were again denied liberty when they appeared before Magistrate Kim Kyte, at Reliance Court, Canje. The denial followed a Police report the wounded man is still critically ill at New Amsterdam Hospital, also in Berbice.
Profitt and Alexander, of Edinburgh, East Bank Berbice, will be back in Court on April 18. It is alleged that they chopped Downer several times with intent to kill him on April 8.
$20,000 fine for assaulting policeman
Sheopal RAMBARRAN , 33, of Lot 30 Adelphi Settlement, was fined $20,000 with an alternative of six months imprisonment on Wednesday, for assaulting a peace officer. The defendant pleaded guilty to the offence before Magistrate Kim Kyte, at Reliance Court, in East Canje, Berbice, where he was reprimanded and discharged for resisting the same policeman.
Sheopal assaulted Police Constable Dev Hublall last February 20 when the latter was acting in the execution of his duties.
14 april 2005
Man in court over gunpoint robbery, rape last year
Rondell Williams
Rondell Williams was not required to plead to the indictable charges of robbery under arms and rape and was remanded to prison by Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan.
Williams, 28, of 87 La Penitence Street, Albouystown allegedly used a gun to rob a man in the city on August 20 last year of one television set, three bicycles, one pair of boots, four gold bands, one pouch and $231,000 cash, a total value of $453,500.
It is also alleged that on the same day, Williams had carnal knowledge of a girl without her consent.
Police alleged that Williams who is known to the police, along with several others went to the man's house armed with a gun at about 3:30 am. Williams reportedly placed a gun to the man's head while the others relieved him of the articles and cash. The rape was committed subsequent to the robbery.
The matters were reported to the police and on April 8, Williams was contacted at his home by the police and he was arrested and charged with the present offences. Williams told the court that when the incidents happened he was in Cayenne, French Guiana receiving treatment for an illness. The matter will continue on May 3. (Stabroek News)
13 april 2005
Police constable raped minor in Botanical Gardens
Lindsley WilliamsA 23-year-old police constable accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in the Botanical Gardens was yesterday granted $50,000 bail by Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan.
Lindsley Williams of 426 South Sophia allegedly had carnal knowledge of the girl on March 29 around midday.
Police alleged that the minor was walking along Homestretch Avenue when Williams approached her and asked if she would accompany him to the Botanical Gardens nearby. The minor reportedly refused. Williams then allegedly pulled a gun from his pants waist and forced her into a car. On arrival in the gardens Williams reportedly had sex with the girl.
After the incident the girl reportedly went home and told her grandmother what happened. The grandmother later went to the East La Penitence Police Station where the matter was reported. As a result Williams was subsequently arrested. Williams was not required to plead to the indictable charge of carnally knowing a girl between the age of 12 and 13 and he has to return to court on June 6. (Stabroek News)
12 april 2005
Corentyne River bridge plan floated
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo says he has floated the idea of a bridge across the border Corentyne River with Suriname President Ronaldo Venetiaan. The idea is to build a bridge across the Corentyne River linking Guyana and Suriname in a joint project between the two countries, he said in Berbice over the weekend.
President Jagdeo said he had raised the idea some time back with the President of Suriname. “I was saying to the President of Suriname - ‘Let’s think about bridging the Corentyne River in a joint project’,” he told a community meeting at the Rosignol Secondary School in Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) on Sunday.
The President noted that once the much anticipated Berbice River bridge project is completed, and if the vision of having a bridge across the Corentyne River is realised, then persons can drive from Georgetown all the way to Parimaribo in Suriname and back. Mr Jagdeo had earlier assured that plans for a bridge across the Berbice River were continuing and that representatives of a French firm will be arriving in Guyana shortly to prepare the design and tender documents for the massive project.
The firm - Louis Berger Construction Company - is expected to complete the design and tender documents in about three months, he said. On completion of these, he said the tender will immediately be launched for a two-month period after which the contract will be awarded later this year.
The Berbice River Bridge project has been on the cards for several years. In May last year, the President in Berbice said the French company had completed a feasibility study on the project. He told an Indian Arrival commemoration event at Highbury, East Bank Berbice, that the feasibility study which began in 2003 recommended a change in the location of the bridge.
The government had originally planned to build the bridge near Highbury, which would have also seen repairs to the road leading to Highbury. However, the study recommends that the Berbice River Bridge be located at D' Edward Village and proceed to Crab Island, eventually linking the Corentyne Highway.
The Berbice River Bridge project is estimated to cost US$35M. However, if the administration went ahead with the original plan to have the other location for the bridge, it will cost US$18M to construct the road leading to the bridge. Meanwhile, the construction of a new bridge across the Mahaicony River in Region Five has been completed and is scheduled to be opened next week.
The Mahaicony River bridge is being built, along with several others, under a US$22M ‘bridges project’. The project is funded by the government through an Inter-American Bank (IDB) loan. It is understood that almost 70 bridges from Timehri to Rosignol have been identified to be constructed and repaired.
Also, plans are in train to bridge the Takutu River, linking Guyana with its neighbour to the south, Brazil. All hurdles are likely to be cleared by now, paving the way for the restarting of work on the bridge across the Takutu River. This commitment was given to President Jagdeo in mid-February by President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a brief state visit here.
The project, which was conceptualised four years ago, was halted in 2001 because of legal problems. President Lula da Silva had assured President Jagdeo that the project is still a priority since Brazil is aware of the importance of the bridge to both countries. “I am personally involved in overcoming the problems that have held up the project”, said the Brazilian leader through his interpreter. He added that the bridge is integral to trade between the two countries. (Gyana Cronicle/Mark Ramotar)
Policeman one of two rape accused on bail
A POLICEMAN accused of rape was yesterday granted $30,000 bail by Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan. Particulars of the offence said Ewart Usher had carnal knowledge of a 20-year-old woman without her consent on March 19.
Police Chief Inspector Gordon Peters, prosecuting, said Usher and the victim were drinking at the Route 45 bus park in Georgetown before he took her to the Mounted Branch compound, at Eve Leary, in the city, where he sexually assaulted her in the blacksmith’s shop. Usher, who has to be back in Court on May 11, was one of two men charged with that offence before the same magistrate.
The other, Richard Albert (no address given either), who is alleged to have carnally known a 14-year-old girl, was allowed pre-trial freedom on a $40,000 recognisance. His case has been transferred to Matthews Ridge Court, in North West District, for May 3. The Prosecutor said the teen was allegedly involved in an intimate relationship with the accused for sometime but was raped on the day she went to his home to help his stepdaughter with some chores.
However, a report was only made to the Police when Albert’s stepdaughter subsequently saw him and the other girl in a close position and told her mother, Peters said. (Guyana Cronicle)
9 april 2005
Police arrest 15 in Georgetown raids
FIFTEEN persons were arrested yesterday in early morning police raids in South Ruimveldt, Albouystown, Kitty, Water and Waterloo streets in Georgetown.
Police said they found a 9mm Jennings pistol, three live matching rounds and a quantity of cannabis, among other items.
Of the 15 persons arrested, two were for possession of arms and ammunition without licence, two for robbery under arms, two for possession of narcotics, one for rape, and another for discharging a loaded firearm. The six others are being questioned in relation to several other offences and charges are to be laid shortly, police said. (Guyana Cronicle)
8 april 2005
Policeman robbed of phone at knife-point -court hears
Anthony Phillips of Kingston Seawall allegedly robbed Anthony Smart of one cell phone valued $17,000 on March 28.
Police alleged that the constable and his girlfriend were walking on the Kingston Seawall around 7:30 pm when Phillips approached and placed a knife to his neck. Phillips relieved him of the cell phone and ran away. About 10 am on Wednesday Smart saw Phillips in Kingston. He made a report to the police and Phillips was arrested.
7 april 2005
Guyanese-based cocaine ring busted
NEW YORK, N.Y., (Hardbeatnews) - Twenty-seven members of a Guyanese-based drug importation and distribution ring that smuggled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine through John F. Kennedy International Airport by concealing the drugs inside frozen fish and chowmein noodle containers have been busted.
Those charged Tuesday include Brooklyn residents Sharwin Lilly, also known as “Nigel Chester” and “Huey”, Michael Browne, Lennox Hobbs, also known as “Junior” and “Ronald Davis”, Rochelle Marcus, Shelly Mcqune, Timothy Mckenzie, also known as “Spliff”, Tabessa Rodney, Ruel Sandy, Shamika Taylor and Derrick Walters, also known as “Patrick Obermuller”, Christopher West, also known as “Tony” and Kenneth Wong, also known as “Pops”.
Also charged were Queens resident Derrick Barton of Far Rockaway; Manhattan resident, Rawle Hoyte; East Orange, New Jersey resident Wanda Deloach; Kent Bryan, also known as “Rupaul” of Fort Lauderdale, FL; Terrell Lassiter of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Jermaine Nicholson and Michael Reid of Amityville, New York.
Leslyn Camacho and Hubert Clarke, also known as “Dun Dun” of Guyana were also arrested.
The 27 were arrested and charged jointly by the United State Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York. They made initial appearances Tuesday afternoon before Judge Robert M. Levy, at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East in Brooklyn. Each of the defendants is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
If convicted, each faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, and a $4 million fine. The ICE investigation revealed that the New York-based cocaine smuggling ring was responsible for importing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Georgetown, Guyana, onboard cargo and passenger flights arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York.
William Knocke, a spokesman for ICE in Washington told Newsday that U.S. officials were tipped by Guyanese law enforcement. ICE federal agents Tuesday seized about one kilogram of powder cocaine, quantities of crack cocaine, a nine-millimetre pistol, drug paraphernalia, and a vehicle containing a “trap,” or secret compartment, in which drugs could be hidden during transport.
According to the complaint filed Tuesday, the smuggling ring used various methods to import large quantities of cocaine through JFK bypassing Customs inspection, including using drug couriers who concealed the cocaine on their persons, and packing the narcotics inside crates of food. As part of their importation scheme, the defendants created shell corporations and listed them as the destinations of the “food” shipments.
In one instance, in May 2004, ICE agents intercepted about 50 kilograms of cocaine concealed in crates of frozen fish addressed to a bogus corporation named Eye & Eye Produce, at 795 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. The investigation disclosed that this address in fact belonged to a Chinese restaurant, whose owners were totally unaware that their premises were listed as a destination for cocaine.
In a second instance, ICE agents seized more than five kilograms of cocaine concealed in boxes of chowmein noodles, addressed to Impulse Trading Company, another fictitious company with a phony address. As detailed in the complaint, in Jan. and Feb. 2005, ICE investigators obtained court-authorised wiretaps on the telephones of the organisation’s ringleader, Sharwin Lilly.
The wiretaps revealed that Lilly directed the operations of an international organisation, relying on cocaine suppliers based in Guyana to regularly import multi-kilogram shipments of cocaine through JFK Airport. The wiretaps further revealed that in New York Lilly had a network of drug distributors, spanning from New York to Virginia.
According to the complaint, Kent Bryan and Wanda Deloach recruited drug couriers, Lennox Hobbs was primarily responsible for the creation of the shell corporations, Michael Browne and Hubert Clarke supplied much of the ring’s cocaine, and Rochelle Marcus served as the drug ring’s bookkeeper. It claimed that Derrick Walters was an intermediary between Lilly and many of his Guyanese suppliers.
Derrick Barton, Timothy Mckenzie, Christopher West and Kenneth Wong were alleged distributors for the ring. Rawle Hoyte, Terrell Lassiter, Jermaine Nicholson, and Michael Reid allegedly purchased the cocaine for resale. “There’s no limit to what criminal smuggling organisations will do for profit - whether it’s drugs, weapons or illegal aliens, these organisations will try to smuggle any commodity if the price is right,” said Salvatore Dalessandro, acting Special Agent-in-Charge for U.S. ICE.
“ICE is targeting these organisations and shutting down the vulnerabilities they might exploit to smuggle their criminal goods into the United States. With these arrests, ICE has dismantled an entire criminal network, which is a tremendous public safety benefit for the city.”
“This case shows the broad net that we cast in our continued commitment to prosecute anyone who smuggles drugs across our nation’s borders,” stated United States Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf.
“We are relentless in our efforts to stop those who would flood the streets of our communities with poison.” The U.S. government in the last year alone has busted at least two drug rings, involving several Guyanese. (Guyana Cronicle)
5 april 2005
Two Surinamese men who entered illegally remanded
Ivan Tjon-a-San
Ivan Tjon-a-San and Ihen Shen Chen entered Guyana at Springlands last Friday without presenting themselves to an immigration officer.
According to the police, at about 8.30 pm ranks at a road block at Montrose Public road, East Coast Demerara stopped the two men. When requested they were unable to produce their documents. As a result, they were arrested and charged.
Ihen Shen Chen
The two accused were represented by attorney-at-law Devindra Singh. Singh informed the court that Tjon-a-san spoke very little English while Chen spoke none.
The defence counsel said they were part of a group travelling from Suriname to attend a friend's birthday party here. Singh said they had missed the boat at the stelling.
Abandoned vehicle at Itaballi
Ryan Gomes
Police Constable Ryan Gomes and Romel Mc Kenzie, called Romel Sinclair or Romel Clarke, pleaded not guilty to the charge when they appeared before Magistrate Maxwell Edwards yesterday. They were subsequently each placed on $100,000 bail.
The police alleged that Gomes of 117 Third Street, Alberttown and Mc Kenzie of 106 Garnett Street, Newtown Kitty had ten rounds of 9 mm ammunition without being the holder of a firearm licence on March 20.
Police alleged that the vehicle which belongs to Mc Kenzie was found locked and seemingly abandoned at the interior landing. A subsequent search of its interior unearthed the ammunition under the vehicle's passenger seat. Following investigations, bulletins were issued for the two accused. They subsequently turned themselves into the police last Friday afternoon with their attorney, Bernard De Santos. After being held in custody over the weekend the men were subsequently charged with the offence.
Romel Mc Kenzie
In his bail application, De Santos told the court that Mc Kenzie is the owner of the vehicle while Gomes was a passenger in it. The defence counsel said Mc Kenzie used the vehicle to transport persons around the interior. He said Mc Kenzie suffers from hypertension [high blood pressure]. De Santos told the court that was one of the reasons why the vehicle was left behind.
Police prosecutor Lloyd Thomas in response said he was objecting to bail on the grounds that the ammunition was found in a vehicle belonging to Mc Kenzie and Gomes was a passenger. After hearing both sides the magistrate set bail at $100, 000 each. The matter has been transferred to Bartica Magistrate's Court for trial on April 20.
Police had detained several persons including a former owner of the Tacoma in connection with its discovery along with that of a single engine Cessna aircraft at Kwapau airstrip. Police investigating the discovery of the aircraft and vehicle had suggested a nexus between the two and have been working on that theory.
Gomes who admitted to being a passenger of the vehicle and whose cell phone had been found in it, like his co-accused, has denied knowledge of the ammunition. (Stabroek News)
The FBI agents should have arrived in Guyana yesterday, but they have now confirmed their flight to be tomorrow, Interlandi said. He told Stabroek News the FBI team will include a pathologist who will work along with local professionals to perform the autopsies on Richard and Charlene Hicks, who were found dead in their burnt ranch at San Jose last Wednesday.
The autopsies were also slated for yesterday, but were pushed back to Friday to facilitate the FBI's arrival. Stabroek News was told that the agents have expressed their desire to be around when the autopsies are done and Interlandi asserted that this was all part of their collaborative efforts with local police in probing the double homicide. Interlandi said the FBI team will comprise very skilled agents in medical examinations, forensic and crime scene investigation. The agents will bring in their own equipment on their own aircraft.
The two men are suspected to have fled to Brazil. The Brazilian is reportedly wanted by the police in Brazil for a series of crimes, and police are already on the lookout at the border for him. Reports suggest that the man was living in Brazil for a number of years and committed several crimes then fled to Lethem after he was almost arrested by the authorities. The other man is a relative who had been living in the neighbouring village.
It was said that one of the men might have left a clue at the scene that positively identified him.
With regard to the Peace Corps volunteers, Interlandi said as far as he knew, their director had instructed them to fly back to Georgetown for consultations. Interlandi said the action by the director was normal in such circumstances and after consulting, it would be up to the Peace Corps director to decide whether the volunteers would return to the community. He hinted that the possibility existed that they might not return.
Interlandi told this newspaper that there has not been any confirmed report as to the real motive of the killers.
Meanwhile, close friend of the couple, Karen Glover, of the Guyana Bible College confirmed that the missionaries would be buried in Lethem. She said once the autopsies are done on Friday the funeral would take place the same day. Interlandi said the embassy's consular section has been in constant contact with the couple's close relatives back in the US, giving them updates on any new developments. (Stabroek News)
4 april 2005
Dutch seizes 300kg cocaine
The Hague - Dutch authorities have seized 300kg of cocaine with a street value of some $17m on a boat from Venezuela heading for the Dutch port of Amsterdam, the national prosecutor's office said on Monday.
The drugs were seized on Friday from a Venezuelan vessel off the North Sea coast of the Netherlands.
On Sunday Dutch police arrested five suspects in the case, four Dutch nationals and a suspect from Venezuela. They have been provisionally charged with attempting to import cocaine to the Netherlands. (News24)
Three shootings in 36 hours in the Cayman Islands
L-R: Chief Detective Superintendent Derek Haines and Acting Commissioner Rudolph Dixon
GEORGETOWN, Cayman Islands: Another man in the Cayman Islands has been murdered – succumbing to injuries received in a shooting incident on Wednesday 30 March.
His death as a result of violent criminal activity thrusts the number of shooting incidents in which people have been injured over the last 36 hours up to three – a rate that has never been seen before in the history of the Islands.
By Wednesday afternoon, (30 March) four people in Grand Cayman had been shot since the start of the year and two of those shootings resulted in the death of the victims.
Only hours after Wednesday’s shooting that took place near the accident and emergency area at the George Town Hospital, the Cayman Islands Police High Command called an emergency Press Briefing at the Islands’ Central Police Headquarters.
Hosted by Acting Commissioner of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS), Rudolph Dixon, and Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Haines, the officers revealed that the shootings taking place in the Islands over the last few weeks have all been among two rival groupings who are feuding amongst themselves.
“These are fearful times,” said Acting Commissioner Dixon, “ and we are taking these incidents very seriously. “In last night’s, (Tuesday 29 March) incident which involved gun shots being fired at a residence in Bodden Town, powerful automatic and semi-automatic weapons were involved,” said Chief Superintendent Haines.
Acting Commissioner Dixon said that quite a lot of the information relating to the recent upsurge in violent crime is “sensitive.” However Chief Supt Derek Haines said, “The fact that the Police were on location when the altercation between persons from opposing groupings developed to the point where shooting began, is one indication that the Police are on top of the situation.”
An RCIPS report about the day’s incident at the hospital stated that Police Officers responded to the report on Wednesday, 30 March at 1:45pm, involving a 42-year old male resident who entered the Cayman Islands Hospital Accident & Emergency Unit with a firearm. The male suspect subsequently fired shots and a 28-year old Caymanian male sustained gun shot wounds and later died from his injuries.
The 42-year old male suspect was arrested by officers and transported to the George Town Police Station where he remains in custody.
It is speculated that Wednesday’s shooting incident was related to the fact that Sheldon Brown who sustained a gunshot wound on 29 March and, is allegedly a member of a criminal grouping, was still in the hospital. Consequently, rival criminal elements were in the vicinity of the Cayman Islands Hospital knowing that reprisal activity would be possible.
Brown was discharged from the Hospital after the shooting incident in which the Police and the Cayman Islands Health Services confirm that the safety and security of patients and staff were not threatened during the incident.
Avoiding the term “gangs,” Acting Commissioner Dixon said, “We are not regarding the groups as gangs as they do not have all the characteristics of a gang but they are criminal elements. The groups are in infancy but they are quite violent.”
Dismissing any implication that criminal activity has taken a stranglehold on the society Detective Supt Haines said, “The majority of the crime in the Islands is tied to the drug problem and a great portion of criminal activity is carried out by recidivists. The fact that our borders are so open and our ports are heavily used for transhipment make it easy for undesirable elements to bring weapons ashore.
“The only way we are going to solve this is if every man, woman and child communicates with the police in order that we can get these characters off the streets.”
While Detective Supt Haines said that persons have been arrested in relation to a number of robberies and other recent criminal activity, and, that the person involved in Wednesday’s shooting was in custody, the fact remains that the two dangerous male suspects involved in the shooting of Sheldon Brown were not, up to press time, located.
In addition, the fact that Acting Commissioner Dixon also said, “We don’t expect that we have heard the last of it (the violence),” is a stark reminder of the fearful times that now exist in the Islands that he himself spoke of at the Press Briefing. (Caribbean Net News)
Man shot after asking for directions, car stolen
The man who was reluctant to give his name said it was around 7 pm when he stopped to ask the two men for directions. One of them pulled a gun on him and began beating him on the head. They then dragged him from the driver's seat and placed him in the passenger seat with his face down. They then continued to hit him in the head with the weapon.
The man said the men were attempting to tie his hands but he put up some resistance and managed to get away from them. He was sprinting away from the car hollering for help when one of the men fired, hitting him in the groin and he fell down.
The men then drove away with the man's AT170 Corona. The man said he believes he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is being treated at a private hospital.
2 april 2005
Pope John Paul Is Dead -- Vatican
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul II died on Saturday, the Vatican announced. The 84-year-old Pontiff, who had headed the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, died at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. EST), a statement said.
"The Holy Father died this evening at 21.37 in his private apartment," the statement said.
The news was immediately announced to huge crowds gathered in St Peter's Square. John Paul will be remembered for his role in the collapse of communism in Europe and his unyielding defense of traditional Vatican doctrines as leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.
Huge crowds had staged a tearful vigil in St. Peter's Square, praying for a man already being dubbed by some Catholics as "John Paul the Great." The Pope's health had deteriorated steadily over the past decade and earlier this year took a sharp turn for the worse.
The Pontiff, once a lithe athlete and powerful speaker, was already racked by arthritis and Parkinson's Disease, his voice often reduced to a raspy whisper. He was rushed to hospital twice in February and had to have a tracheotomy to ease serious breathing problems. But he never regained his strength from the operation and failed dramatically on two occasions to address crowds at St. Peter's Square.
On Wednesday doctors inserted a feeding tube into his stomach to try boost his energy levels. A day later he developed a urinary infection and high fever that soon precipitated heart failure, kidney problems and ultimately death. According to pre-written Church rules, the Pontiff's mourning rites will last 9 days and his body is likely to be laid to rest in the crypt underneath St Peter's Basilica.
The conclave to elect a new Pope will start in 15 to 20 days, with almost 120 cardinals from around the world gathering in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel to choose a successor. (Reuters)
St Kitts-Nevis to send police, soldiers to Barbados
Contingent of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force on parade at Warner Park during Independence Celebrations Parade. (photo by Erasmus Williams)
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: St. Kitts and Nevis is to send a contingent of police officers and Defence Force soldiers to Barbados as part of the Regional Security Services (RSS) following a riot at the island’s Glendairy Prison.
Minister of National Security, Justice, Immigration and Labour, Dwyer Astaphan said the twin-island Federation would respond positively to the Barbados request.
Minister Astaphan said Thursday evening he was in consultation with Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas on the final numbers.
According to the Nation newspaper of Barbados, that country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney-General Mia Mottley said that with three sites to accommodate the prisoners, Barbados’ resources would be stretched to the limit and the Government had sought the assistance from the regional security organisation.
She said based on the request on the recommendation from Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin and Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force, Colonel Alvin Quintyne, the Government had agreed “to accept the additional manpower of 120 soldiers from the RSS.”
Ms. Mottley added that “through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Barbados Government had been liaising with a number of Caribbean governments in order to assess its options.
Mottley said Government had already received offers from countries to assist in the building of temporary prison facilities at Glendairy. (Caribbean Net News)
1 april 2005
Meanwhile, police have released the city businessman and his associate who were held for approximately a week following the discovery of the single-engine Cessna 206 aircraft at Kwapau airstrip and the Toyota Tacoma at nearby Itaballi on March 19. Police also said in a release issued yesterday that investigations have revealed that the registration numbers displayed on the aircraft, which identified it as Venezuelan in origin may be false.
According to the release, traces done by the force suggest that the Cessna is a U2060II station air, which was originally registered to Cavico Aircraft Sales Inc at a Fort Lauderdale, Florida address. The craft had the registration number N3477Y and there was no indication that it was ever registered outside the USA. According to the police, Cavico went into involuntary dissolution some time around 1987.
Police Public Relations Officer John Sauers said the force was continuing to investigate circumstances under which the craft and the 4x4 came to be abandoned in the Mazaruni area. A cellular telephone found in the vehicle was said to be the item linking Gomes to the pick-up. Police found several documents as well as some 10 rounds of 9 mm ammunition in the abandoned Tacoma during a search. Police Commissioner Winston Felix at a press briefing last week had pointed to a link between the vehicle and the abandoned aircraft, which police have been following.
Sauers said documents obtained from the scene were in police custody and were being used in the investigation. Sources told this newspaper that the crew who appeared to have left the scene in a hurry could have exercised numerous options to evade capture.
Apart from having the facility of another craft, the person/s may have used the Puruni road to head deeper into the mining district from where they could have used the river to evade police scrutiny. With the aid of persons familiar with the area they could also have fled into the surrounding jungle with its endless trails and camps; or could have been picked up by boat from the nearby Itaballi landing after abandoning the Tacoma.
Meanwhile, the local Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is still awaiting a response from authorities in Venezuela with respect to the craft, which was known to have been flying in that country's airspace. CAA Director General Chabeenanan Ramphul told Stabroek News the CAA may have to write a letter of reminder to the authorities in that republic.
He said the CAA had received notification from the Venezuelans about the likelihood of a missing aircraft being in distress. However, queries subsequent to the discovery of the Cessna evoked no response from the Venezuelans. Asked about possible confiscation of the aircraft, Ramphul said that was an issue for the state to decide.
According to the CAA director, since the discovery of the aircraft in the country's territory without prior approval to overfly or land in this country, it had become the concern of the state.
Stumbled upon
Chairman of Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) Gordon Bradford was of the view that police who had gone to investigate a two-vehicle accident on the Puruni Road at Tiger Creek had stumbled upon the abandoned craft. Bradford, whose nephew had been driving one of the trucks that collided on a blind turn in the interior mining district and who died as a result of injuries sustained said news of the abandoned aircraft began circulating after the police party left Bartica in the early afternoon of March 19.
According to Bradford, the aircraft was clearly visible from the nearby roadway, which took the party to the scene of the fatal truck crash and it was more than likely that they saw it on their way in. He said the laterite airstrip, built in the early 1970s at the time of the Upper Mazaruni Road Project, was at times used as a bypass by vehicles seeking to avoid a bad patch on the adjacent Puruni Road.
Meanwhile, sources have told this newspaper that monitoring of interior strips was once in the purview of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) which at one time had a presence at most of these strips. However, other military sources said this responsibility lay with the CAA which has overall charge. However, because of the army's role in hinterland security, specifically protection of the borders, the strips located near borders were monitored by the force. Ramphul had said in an earlier interview that security of the airstrips was not in the purview of the CAA.
Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Anthony Xavier had also subsequently told this newspaper that the responsibility for security of airstrips lay with the security forces and his ministry only facilitated their maintenance and upkeep. The police said they were not charged with the responsibility of securing interior airstrips. (Stabroek News)
POLICE yesterday said they are investigating the suspected murder of an American missionary couple in the central Rupununi. A police statement identified the couple as Richard and Charlene Hicks.
A source at Lethem said Richard Hicks was about 40 years old and his wife about 50. Police said the woman’s battered body was found outside a burnt-out building in which the charred remains of her husband were discovered. The source in Lethem said the two lived in a thatched house on a plot at San Jose, a cattle ranch in the Rupununi savannahs, about nine miles south of Lethem.
Robbery did not appear to be the motive of the apparent double killing which has shocked the Lethem community where they were known. The source said the husband usually wore an expensive Seiko wristwatch which was found on his remains yesterday morning. Police said they died at about 22:00 h Wednesday.
The wife was beaten on the head and body and her corpse was found several yards from the burnt-out small house which police said was destroyed by fire. The two were working on a bilingual education project among the Wapishiana Amerindian tribe since they moved into the district around 1994-1995, the source said. Police said detectives from Georgetown have been dispatched to the area to spearhead investigations. The bodies were flown to Georgetown last night, an official said.
The two were continuing a field mission on the bilingual Wapishiana education project started some 30 years ago by another American, Francis Tracey, who has since returned to the U.S., according to the source. A Wapishiana who knew the couple, was returning home from the annual Christian Brethren Church conference at Lethem yesterday morning when he made the gruesome discovery, the Chronicle understands.
He was heading back to the South Savannahs where he lives and decided to check on the two who he sometimes worked with as a facilitator on their project, the source said. A resident said the Americans were well-known at Lethem where they regularly picked up supplies and mail. He said they were allowed to live in the thatched house at San Jose, a cattle compound owned by the late Leonard Da’guiar.
A government official yesterday recalled that an American nun who sided with the landless in Brazil against powerful planters, was recently murdered and said investigators dispatched to the Rupununi would be checking all angles in the death of the couple. (Guyana Cronicle)
Mystery aircraft registration false -- police confirm
POLICE yesterday confirmed an earlier Guyana Chronicle report that the small mystery aircraft found on a remote airstrip in the Mazaruni last month had false registration numbers. Police also announced that they have held two other persons but were still looking for a police constable and another man as investigations continued into the aircraft found abandoned on the Kwapau airstrip on March 19.
A press release said further investigations into the discovery of the Cessna 206 “have now revealed that the registration numbers displayed may be false.”
“According to a trace that has been done, the aircraft is a U206GII station air which was originally registered to CAVICO AIRCRAFT SALES, INC at an address in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and to an agent also of Fort Lauderdale, with registration number N3477Y”, police said. This confirmed a Chronicle report Wednesday but police yesterday said it “would appear that this company may have had a difficulty maintaining its existence after 1987 as official records suggest that it was involuntarily dissolved.”
“There is no indication that this aircraft was registered elsewhere than in the United States of America”, police said, confirming further the Chronicle report on the mystery aircraft. Sources said investigators believe the single-engine six-seater was used in a botched cocaine drop and they are still trying to determine why the drug runners appeared to have abandoned the plane on the airstrip.
The aircraft was left on the airstrip which runs parallel to the Puruni trail and investigators are probing links to the well-executed slaying of three persons in Agricola, East Bank Demerara on Tuesday night. Police said cocaine was found at the small Agricola house in which one man was beheaded and his teenage girlfriend and another man shot dead.
The mystery aircraft is widely believed to have been used in a cocaine airdrop operation and sources said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents checked the plane last week after it was flown under Army escort to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, where it is under tight security. Investigators thought the single-engine aircraft was registered in Venezuela when it was discovered on the airstrip.
However, at a news conference last week, Police Commissioner Winston Felix said Guyana had asked the international police organisation Interpol, the Venezuelan authorities and some liaison officers in Venezuela and other narcotic agencies operating around Latin America and the Caribbean to assist in the investigation. At that time, Felix reported that Interpol had advised that the “aircraft is not known to them”.
The DEA is known to be closely watching narco-trafficking in Guyana which the U.S. Government has confirmed is a transshipment point for South American cocaine destined for North America, Europe and the Caribbean. The mystery aircraft has a specially modified drop door known to be fitted on aircraft cocaine rings use for drug drops.
Wanted bulletins were issued last week Thursday for Police Constable Ryan Gomes, 38, of 58 Welcome Street, Rosignol and Lindy Avenue, Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara; and Romel Clarke, also called Romel McKenzie and Romel Sinclair, of 106 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown. Two other suspects held in the probe were last week put on an identification parade but have since been released. (Guyana Cronicle)