2006-06-nieuwsbronnen-engels

The latest development in the hyped-up case against Khan which has dominated the news here and in Suriname, for just more than two weeks, has evoked the wrath of one of his local attorneys, Mr. Glen Hanoman, who called it a “cowboy” action.

In a statement yesterday, Hanoman accused Suriname Minister of Justice Chandrikapersad Santokhi of aiding and abetting the “illegal kidnapping and extraordinary rendition of a citizen of a sister CARICOM country” by the U.S.

Sources confirmed Khan was taken from the Suriname maximum security prison by U.S. agents Wednesday night, flown on a special Suriname Airways flight to Trinidad from where he was yesterday put on an aircraft for the U.S. But up to last night there was no confirmation from U.S. officials that Khan had been flown to the U.S.

Suriname said Khan was deported early yesterday morning and sent back to Guyana but officials here said the fugitive businessman had not arrived here. Home Affairs Minister, Ms. Gail Teixeira told the Guyana Chronicle last night, “as far as we know, Roger Khan is not in Guyana.”

Suriname officials said he was escorted by three heavily armed policemen and put on a flight to Trinidad and Tobago at about 06:00 h.

An official statement from the Suriname Office of the Prosecutor General said Khan’s expulsion was ordered by the head of the local police because he had illegally entered that country.

After his preventive custody was lifted by Prosecuting Attorney Garcia Paragsing, members of the Police SWAT team took Khan from the Santa Boma jail straight to the international airport and put him on a flight to Trinidad.

This action contrasts sharply with previous statements by Suriname officials that they had a strong case against Khan for drugs trafficking and alleged plots to assassinate top Suriname judiciary and other officials, and that he was a threat to the national security of Suriname, Guyana and other countries.

The U.S. had also asked the Suriname Government to extradite him to the U.S. where he is wanted on drugs charges. Tom Walsh, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Suriname, would not comment on the possible arrest of Khan by U.S. agents in Trinidad.

“I can only confirm that the U.S. submitted a formal request on June 19th for his provisional arrest on charges for cocaine trafficking to the United States”, said the official. He further noted that Khan’s arrest by Suriname police was a “major strike against narco-trafficking”.

Up to yesterday the Suriname authorities had not responded to the request while it was indicated that they had the matter under consideration. But since Khan was expelled from Suriname, Walsh said, “it is a different situation now.”

He told de Ware Tijd newspaper in Suriname, he hoped that since there was an international arrest warrant for the Guyanese suspect, the U.S. government was waiting for that to happen “but I cannot confirm that he was arrested in Trinidad”.

Hanoman, in his statement detailing what allegedly took place in Suriname Wednesday night, said he was advised that at around 23:00 h, “American operatives were allowed into the Santa Boma prison. Roger Khan was then injected with a substance that made him unconscious, after which he was lifted out of his cell with a hood over his head. He was then flown to Piarco Airport where a private jet awaited him.”

Hanoman said Khan was shackled with chains and flown to Miami “and I am made to understand that he is presently in New York.” He said the decision of the Surinamese authorities “to send Khan by airplane to Trinidad and Tobago was obviously not done to facilitate his deportation to Guyana.”

He added: “It is abundantly clear that Surinamese officials aided and abetted this extraordinary rendition of a citizen of a sister CARICOM State. It is to be hoped that CARICOM, the Guyana Government, the international community and other organisations condemn in the strongest possible terms this `Cowboy’ behaviour displayed by both the Suriname and American governments and even the Trinidad and Tobago government.

By their actions these governments have indicated that they have no respect for the rule of law, for due process, for human rights or for sovereignty.”

Hanoman claimed Santokhi “has usurped the democratic process in Suriname, disrespected Guyana as a sister CARICOM country and (should) be called to task” for an illegal action.

Khan, 35, and 11 others including three other Guyanese, Paul Rodrigues, Sean Belfield and Lloyd Roberts were arrested on June 15 in Suriname in a sting operation that police said netted more than 200 kilograms of cocaine -- the biggest cocaine haul in that country this year.

At the time of Khan’s arrest, there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest issued by a U.S. district court judge in New York in April accusing him of importing cocaine.

Hanoman told the Guyana Chronicle he was informed from Suriname that Santokhi had told journalists there that the authorities had expelled Khan from the country having laid no charges against him.

Hanoman, however, in his statement noted that Khan has at least three pending matters that he has instituted in the courts in Suriname including “an action to prevent his extradition to the USA” and which was scheduled to be heard today.

He added that Khan has been “effectively prevented from pursuing his legal remedies by this kidnapping. It reflects poorly on the executive in Suriname and shows the extent that they are prepared to go to usurp judicial and democratic processes.

“Further, I am made to understand that in the first place there was no evidence for which Khan could have been charged in Suriname which just goes to show that Guyanese in Suriname who have not committed any offence may be subjected to all kinds of treatment.”

Hanoman described as “shocking”, a comment from Mr John Jones, spokesman for the Surinamese police, that the three other Guyanese will be kept in custody for investigations to continue into the same allegations. “If the alleged ring leader was not charged, surely it is malicious to keep the other three on the same facts,” Hanoman argued.

Alluding to a statement which Santokhi had made to the Surinamese media the day after Khan was arrested, accusing him of plotting to assassinate top ministerial and judicial officials in Suriname, Hanoman said last evening the minister made some very irresponsible statements and it appears as though there was no evidential basis for making them.

He said he had expected the Suriname Government to be bothered about the claims, but “now it seems that everything he said was just wind”, noting that after so many days of investigation they could not lay a single charge against Khan.

“It may have been a ploy to keep him there for as long as possible for the Americans to engineer his kidnapping,” he added, noting that the court hearing was scheduled for today.

On Tuesday, Khan, who was being kept under very tight security at the Santo Boma maximum security facility, made his second court appearance and his detention was extended until July 30, upon request by the authorities, to facilitate a continuation of the investigations surrounding his arrest.

Khan was believed to have been hiding out in Suriname after the Police here put him on a wanted list in connection with the theft of 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) headquarters in Georgetown.

The U.S. Government also in a report earlier this year named Khan among drug traffickers it claimed were gaining a significant foothold in Guyana’s timber industry. Khan in statements issued in the press claimed that the grand jury indictment and anything flowing from it had been motivated by political considerations.

He said he is perceived by persons in the U.S., the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force and the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform as someone “who has the will and a capacity to fight crime and to protect the people of Guyana.” (Guyana Cronicle)

Army Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Edward Collins yesterday told his officers the recovery of the stolen AK-47s is the foremost objective of the GDF but in the meanwhile the current operation has aided the police's destruction of one of the main drug empires in the country.

Collins, who has been under intense pressure since the disappearance of 30 AK-47s and five handguns from Camp Ayanganna earlier this year, said that while only one of the weapons had been recovered so far he wanted to recognize the "sterling performance" of the young officers and soldiers in the field.

"Their effort has contributed to the police's destruction of one of the main drug empire(s) and consequently sterilized the trafficking of cocaine, cleaned up the entertainment houses and forced the drug lord out of his area of influence and into the Surinamese jail from where he can no longer threaten the self esteem of our young daughters and sisters. I am convinced that it is only a matter of time when he will let us know where our other weapons are".

Collins identified no one in this passage but it was clear that he was referring to drug-accused businessman Roger Khan who is now in a Surinamese jail following a major drug bust in Paramaribo two weeks ago. Prior to that bust, Khan had crossed swords with the army and the police, accusing both of them of colluding with the US Embassy and the PNCR in a plot against the government.

Asked to respond to Collins' statement about the drug empire, Khan's lawyer Vic Puran last night told Stabroek News "The Chief of Staff's comments fly in the face of the statements made by both Dr Roger Luncheon and Minister Gail Teixeira. Dr Luncheon said that there was not sufficient evidence to proffer charges against Roger Khan in Guyana. Minister Teixeira said the Government of Guyana was not interested in Roger Khan."

"The Chief of Staff ought to be more responsible instead of giving credence to what is still mere speculation. If they are saying there is insufficient evidence to charge Roger Khan, how can the Chief of Staff make a positive and definitive statement as if he has already been convicted in a court of law?"

On the question of the stolen AK-47s in connection with which the Joint Services had searched several of Khan's properties, Puran said "The Chief of Staff is either relying on intuition or upon the statement of a witness. The responsible thing for him to do is to state upon which basis he has arrived at that conclusion. Roger Khan has maintained that he was assisting the army in the recovery of the AK-47s."

Puran noted that the Chief of Staff had earlier suggested that the weapons could have been stolen since 2001 and he said this clearly conflicted with Dr Luncheon's statements on the matter. As a result, he said Collins ought to say when the weapons were lost and what kind of security was in place to guard the storage bond.

"In a democracy such as ours, heads of departments and heads of constitutional bodies are responsible for the actions of their subordinates, even when due to a system failure. The fact that AK-47 rifles went missing is a system failure. He is the person responsible for establishing a system but it appears that this is a case where there is no system in place."

Vigilance

In his address, Collins called for more internal vigilance in light of the apparent collusion of servicemen in the theft. He said the complicity of members of the GDF in the theft of army weapons poses crucial questions for national security and he assured that the recovery of the stolen weapons remains the army's priority.

None of the private media houses were allowed to cover the opening of the conference but a transcript of Collin's remarks at the retreat were released yesterday by the Government Information Agency.

The retreat has been held in lieu of the GDF's Annual Officers' Conference, which was postponed as a result of the ongoing joint services operation aimed at retrieving the rifles stolen from a GDF storage bond. Collins said further postponement was not an option in light of the prevailing domestic security situation. An intelligence assessment of the security situation was among the talking points for the retreat, including an outline of achievements and failures and remedies. Collins, on this point, noted the "inevitable restructuring" of the force, saying it is an immediate imperative given the current security situation.

The AK-47 rifles and other arms were discovered to have been stolen during an internal audit four months ago.

Collins said he had hoped that the weapons would have already been recovered by this time and the perpetrators of the theft ferreted out. On this point, he alluded to the complicity of servicemen and the implications it holds for national security.

"We must continue our internal investigations being ever watchful and vigilant to identify those among us who are so compromised that they can be involved in such a nefarious scheme as conspiring with the drug lords to steal our weapons," he said.

"How can the citizens feel secured if the security force is in itself compromisedâ€¦?" he then added, while noting that it is imperative that the recovery of the weapons remain the army's primary objective.

Although only one weapon has been recovered since the campaign started, Collins said that the joint services had achieved their subsidiary strategic objective of rendering the arms useless by hunting down potential users in the criminal underworld. "This effort must and will continue," he declared.

Legal challenge

Collins also said that the retreat comes in the face of certain realities that cannot be ignored and he included among these the legal challenge to the joint services searches that resulted in him being summoned to account for the operational legality. This challenge was brought by Puran. "The judiciary is asked to pass judgement on our very existence as an institution," he proclaimed, "Yes, the very law that brought us into being is the very law now being challenged!"

He mentioned too what he dubbed an "external threat" posed by recent accusations and the sudden deployment of a flagship of one of the country's neighbours. The threats posed by the drug trade and the looming general elections were also cited, as well as the negative coverage of the GDF and the joint services operations in some sections of the media.

Collins also decried the imprisonment of two senior non-commissioned officers, in an apparent reference to the two sergeants, Christopher Harmon and Kurt Trotman, charged for the murder of Cadet Officer Amar Rajkumar.

He said "it is very grieving to me personally as indeed I am sure it is to all of you. To be so helpless when two of our finest have been plucked out from our midst and taken to live under conditions not befitting their rank". He said he felt for these officers the same way he felt when he learnt of the fate of the late Rajkumar. He signalled that the matter has been placed before the Defence Board and that it is receiving the full attention of the Commander-in-Chief.

"We should not let these realities become a burden on us and hinder our joint efforts with the police force at ridding the society of those who are bent on threatening the livelihood of our citizens but rather strengthen our resolve to continue and fight," he said, observing that both agencies need to build on cooperation established between them.

Added to this, Collins said there would be a greater need for the application of force to enforce the rule of law but he also reminded the officers that accountability and maintaining professional standards were central to their responsibilities.

"â€¦We the officers and other ranks of the [army] must remain unified by the concept of organisational loyalty which transcends particular differentiation by ethnicity, community, family or rank," he said.

Collins also lauded his Commander-in-Chief: "It is not often the GDF finds such a remarkably understanding personality of our situation. Never have I been turned down with any request taken before the Commander-in-Chief. Always willing to listen and is very encouraging in our operational quest". (Stabroek News)

US $ 20M loan to modernise Police Force

THE government has negotiated a US$20M project with the Inter-American Development (IDB) to modernise the Guyana Police Force at a time when confidence in the security forces has dwindled over unsolved crimes, tapped tapes of the Top Cop in questionable conversations, and the disappearance of high-powered weapons from the Army headquarters.

Speaking yesterday at a retreat, which would have otherwise been the annual Army officers conference, President Bharrat Jagdeo said the project aims to institutionally strengthen the Ministry of Home Affairs, modernise the Police Force by strengthening its crime prevention, reduction and crime fighting capabilities.

He said not all of the criticisms by the public are unwarranted as, in the face of the escalating criminal activities, the law enforcement responses have not always been timely or appropriate and likely to inspire confidence in the eyes of the public.

“In that regard, we still cannot explain the disappearance of the weapons nor have we recovered them; and we have so far failed to apprehend the perpetrators of the Agricola killings and the killers of (Agriculture) Minister (Satyadeow) Sawh and his family, although (there’s) a pretty good idea of the identities of the assassins,” the President stated.

He said the government recognises that due to the nature of transnational crime and the development of organised crime locally, both of which foster and support the creation of armed gangs, the Police Force has to be modernised and re-organised to deal with these challenges.

He said the IDB project, coupled with the US$25M funded Justice Sector Reform project, will concentrate over the next five years in comprehensively and holistically dealing with the entire criminal justice system and in creating a less violent and more law abiding society.

He said a pivotal challenge for any government in today’s world is to fashion a domestic agenda that accords with national interests, with security as one of the key priorities this year.

The most pressing matters of national import at the moment, Mr. Jagdeo said, are all interrelated, and relate to the 2006 general elections, security and the threat of natural disasters. Where security is concerned, he noted that 2006 has seen heightened attention to the internal security sector as troubling events made unforgettable impacts on the society.

“Well-armed criminal gangs have continued their assault on the lives and property of Guyanese. Significantly, their unbelievable brutality and the indiscriminate nature of their aggression, all point to an added intention of spreading terror within our communities and targeting groups, particularly those on the coastland and in the business sectors,” he stated.

He said too narco-trafficking has continued to damage Guyana’s international image as external seizures expose the successes of the drug lords in overcoming Guyana’s efforts at interdiction and illegally exporting their commodities.

The President said the disappearance of the high-powered automatic weapons from Camp Ayanganna and the failure to recover them has also added to uncertainty about public safety. He pointed out that the most shocking of the criminal developments were the brutal assassination of Minister Sawh, two of his siblings and a security guard, and the slayings at Agricola.

“These developments have all contributed to the heightened tension in our land, more so in the context of the limited success in addressing them,” he posited. He said the administration’s responses have been principled and consistent and it continues to provide the material, financial and moral support needed by law enforcement agencies.

“The administration will work to cultivate the strongest possible correlation of national and international responses to maintain the potency of our fight against crime,” he added. The President noted that in the 2006 budget $3.267B for current and $190M for capital expenditure was appropriated for the military.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces also pointed out that that level of expenditure approximated that of the civilian law enforcement agencies and catered predominantly for meeting the expenditure associated with the agreed upon operational stance of the Joint Services for 2006. However, he said responses to the heightened criminal activities have called for unplanned expenditure of more than G$50M.

Looking at the Police, he said whilst in the last few years, the government has significantly increased allocations, during the last two years the government has almost doubled the budgetary allocation to the Force. However, he said apart from the financial and budgetary aspect of the government’s response, there is need to regain and inspire the confidence of the public.

“We would never rest satisfied until we have eradicated from our midst the criminal gangs and successfully confronted organised crime in all of its manifestations in Guyana,” the President declared.

He said the Government has given the greatest possible encouragement and public support to the Joint Services in the face of strident criticisms. “I criticise when I feel criticisms are due and commend when this is deserved. But as Commander-in-Chief I remain confident in the capability of the Army,” Mr. Jagdeo stated.

“When the Chief-of-Staff briefed me on the disappearance of the weapons, my instructions as President and as Commander-in-Chief, Chairman of the Defence Board and Minister of Defence to the Head of the Joint Services stands, and should again be quoted: ‘…whatever it takes and wherever it leads, do all that is necessary…’”

He refuted once again accusations by the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform and other critics of his administration. “My administration believes that the security forces have to pursue all criminals – narcotic traffickers as well the armed bandits. To this end, the Joint Services has been given full support and additional resources to apprehend these criminals,” the President stated.

He said if one were to ask the Chief-of-Staff of the Army or the Commissioner of Police if either of them was prevented from taking action against anyone, including drug dealers or any person involved in any criminal enterprise, “the answer will be an unequivocal no.” “Prioritising internal security and the fight against crime and violence in the context of our financial and budgetary realities, will call for greater sacrifices,” the President stated. (Guyana Cronicle)

Khan, 35, who the U.S. has branded as a drug trafficker, yesterday made another appearance before an examining magistrate who granted the authorities request to continue detaining him until that time, to allow for a continuation of the investigations surrounding his arrest, according to attorney-at-law Glen Hanoman. And according to Hanoman, the fact that after 14 days the Suriname authorities have been unable to institute charges means there is no real hard evidence against his client.

Hanoman who refuted previous reports in the media here claiming that Khan had been charged, has confirmed that an earlier order which prevented two Surinamese lawyers, Irwinis Khanai and G. R. Shewcharran, contracted to represent Khan in that country, from seeing him, was lifted Friday last. As a result, Khan was seen by Khanai that day, and Shewcharran visited him yesterday.

Meanwhile, hearing of a motion filed by the lawyers seeking to usurp any extradition request by the U.S. authorities on the grounds that the indictment proffered has no legal basis, will be heard on Friday, Hanoman added.

As for the move by the U.S. to have the Surinamese extradite Khan to that country on the basis of an indictment which accuses him of conspiring to ship cocaine into the U.S. this year, Hanoman is adamant that no treaty exists between Suriname and the U.S. to extradite him on such an indictment.

Noting that the two countries are seeking to use an 1887 treaty inherited from the Netherlands, Hanoman further pointed out that Article I of the treaty categorically states that the accused to whom the indictment relates must be physically present in the United States at the time the offence was committed.

Additionally, he said, narcotics was not listed under the 1887 treaty and although Suriname ratified the 1988 Vienna Convention on narcotics, it still cannot stand as a basis. “A convention cannot stand as a basis for an extradition, it has to be done by a bilateral arrangement,” Hanoman posited.

He told the Chronicle too, that in order for Suriname to explore the possibility of extraditing Khan to the U.S., the embassy there must lodge a copy of the indictment, the treaty which exists between the two countries, and a summary of the evidence against Khan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Suriname, but as far as he is aware, this has not been done.

Khan was nabbed along with 11 other suspects, including three other Guyanese, Sean Belfield, Paul Rodrigues and Lloyd Roberts, in what police there said was the biggest cocaine haul in that country this year. The operation netted 213 kilograms of cocaine, police said.

Asked about the status of the other three Guyanese, Hanoman said matters relating to them will be raised in court on Friday as well.

Public Diplomacy Officer in the U.S. embassy in Suriname, Thomas Walsh, in a telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Monday, had said subsequent to the arrest of Khan who was charged with cocaine trafficking by a New York court earlier this year, and an arrest warrant issued for him, the U.S. filed two requests - a provisional arrest for the purpose of extradition and for his physical extradition.

He said so far the request for provisional arrest has been satisfied, in that the U.S. is aware that Khan is being kept in custody, and the U.S. now awaits the extradition process to continue.

Asked how soon the U.S. expects a response to the second request, Walsh said while he could not say, the U.S. is aware that Suriname will have to conduct its own internal judicial process. “They (Suriname) know of the U.S. interest, and we have to await an answer,” Walsh added.

During Khan’s first arraignment, the office of the examining magistrate was guarded by members of the Suriname Police SWAT team, armed with high-powered weapons. The Guyana Government last week told Suriname that it would not “at this time” seek to have Khan and the three other Guyanese held in Suriname extradited to this country to face prosecution here.

The decision was communicated by Home Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira to her Suriname counterpart, Justice Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

Before his weekly Cabinet meeting Wednesday last, Santokhi told Suriname journalists of the discussion he had with Ms. Teixeira and the decision taken by the Guyana Government which gives Suriname more leeway to consider the formal U.S. request for Khan to be extradited to face drugs charges there.

Teixeira told Santokhi that although Guyanese police are investigating alleged crimes Khan might have committed, it is up to Suriname to prosecute him and his cohorts for offences they might have committed in the Dutch-speaking country.

The U.S. Government earlier this year named Khan among drug traffickers it claimed were gaining a significant foothold in Guyana’s timber industry.

“Such concessions in the remote interior may allow drug traffickers to establish autonomous outposts beyond the reach of Guyanese law enforcement,” the report added.

Local Police on March 29 put out a wanted bulletin for Khan, shortly after his business places in and around Georgetown were raided in joint operations by the Police Force and the GDF. Police in a press release said Khan, of 133 Rotunda Place, D’Aguiar’s Park, Houston, was wanted in connection with investigations into the discovery of firearms, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items found during the Joint Services operation.

They also searched his D’Aguiar’s Park home and deployed a team to Kaow Island in the Essequibo River, where he also owns a sawmilling operation. Khan in statements issued in the press claimed that the U.S. indictment and anything flowing from it had been motivated by political considerations.

Protest in slain teen case

Relatives of murdered schoolgirl Roshni Pertabsingh, called Indira, and others yesterday took to the streets of New Amsterdam calling for justice in the case.

They paraded outside the Central Police Station in New Amsterdam carrying placards, some reading, ‘Roshnie was my friend’; ‘Help us bring these persons down’; ‘We need justice now, help’; `Murder, cold blooded murder, we need justice’.

The student, who was writing the Caribbean Secondary Certificate Examinations when she was raped and murdered, had been a companion at nights for her neighbour, Budhia, also known as ‘Dodo Girl’, 65, whose husband has been living for six months a year in the United States.

Neighbours who heard shouts from the house around midnight on June 7 last, said when they got there, they found the student on a bed with her throat slashed. Her underwear had been pulled down to her ankles and there were cuts about her private parts, they said.

Police have since charged Seenarine Ramnarine, called Vicky, with the murder and the matter is pending at the New Amsterdam Court. He is expected to return to court on July 28 for hearing. Yesterday, the gathering of about 25 persons, including the girl’s parents, relatives and friends, went to Coburg Street, armed with the placards.

The vocal group called on the authorities to arrest another person they claim knows more about the brutal murder than has been told to the police so far. The protest lasted about an hour but relatives said they may intensify the action if they are not satisfied with the outcome of the police investigation. (Guyana Cronicle)

President Bharrat Jagdeo has no major objections to foreigners filling some of the key positions in the Guyana Police Force in order for the force to acquire the necessary capacity to combat the criminal situation in Guyana.

This is the first time the President has spoken openly of Guyana following in the steps of its sister Caricom nations - Trinidad, Jamaica and St Lucia - which have foreign officers in certain key posts. A source close to the ruling party had told this newspaper last month, following the death of agriculture minister, Satyadeow Sawh and three others, that Guyana may follow those countries that had recruited foreign officers to work in their respective police forces. This was supported by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) whose president, Gerry Gouveia, had posited the same concept.

President Jagdeo made the revelation while addressing reporters at the Skeldon Estate on Saturday, noting that external help had been sought from Canada in the wake of Sawh's killing while the UK and the US were also approached.

The President revealed that when the government approached the UK, the issue of all parties working in cohesion to fight crime was raised and he said he had no problem with this. On this front the President pointed out that the government had established the National Commission of Law and Order.

Meanwhile, the Head of State revealed that his government had just signed a loan for some US$20M to improve crime fighting, which would include restructuring the police force. And speaking about whether the country would see troops from other Caribbean states during the election period, President Jagdeo said he doubted this would happen.

Neither would there be troops from any other part of the world, as, according to the President, even if Guyana approached the United Nations no one would come. However, he said he was confident that the country's security forces could provide the necessary security in the run up for elections and after. Meanwhile, on a related issue, President Jagdeo said he was not satisfied with the system put in place to hire the 600 more police officers needed. He said the response so far has not been good.

The government, he said, would continue to assess the situation in the security forces and he would praise them when they are doing well. The government official who had spoken to Stabroek News on condition of anonymity last month, had said that both the US and Canada had responded favourably to the request for assistance.

Both the minister and his two siblings who also died in the attack were Canadian citizens, but at that time the specific details as to what kind of assistance was needed were to be worked out. It is not clear if this has been done and so far the government and the police have been mum on whether help is expected. There has also been no update on the investigations into the brutal slaying of Sawh, his siblings, his security guard and his dog.

Gouveia had said that the chamber was disappointed that it was taking the government so long to bring external help adding that it was urgent that the administration hire foreign officers to work at the level of commanders within the police force, which he had said would significantly boost the capacity of the organisation.

Following the death of the minister, President Jagdeo had publicly intimated his displeasure with the performance of the Joint Services in the face of mounting crime, noting that he was convinced that among the over 5,000 ranks there were people who could confront the criminals. The Joint Services have since set up camp at the back of the troubled village of Buxton and have been mounting several operations countrywide.

However, except for the find of a lone AK-47, one of the 30 that went missing on February 27 from the army's headquarters at Camp Ayanganna, there have been no major successes, although there have been some arrests of persons who have been charged with possession of firearms and drugs among other offences.

Since the killing of Sawh the furore has been over the controversial releases of taped conversations alleged between Commissioner Winston Felix and others and the issuing of statements by embattled businessman Roger Khan who among other things had alleged that he saved the government from a coup planned by the police, army and the US. Khan has since been held in Suriname along with three others on suspicion of trafficking in narcotics, gun running and being part of a criminal gang (see story on page 11).

Felix for his part has said he would not say the voices on the tapes were his as he could not vouch for the authenticity of the tapes or prove that the conversations were not doctored. He has since moved to the courts to block the government from conducting an investigation in relation to the tapes, based on a letter sent to him by Prime Minister Sam Hinds.

It is understood that Felix, who has been called on to resign by some, including the GCC, may proceed on pre-retirement leave soon.

So apart from foreign help, the government may be looking at finding someone to take over the helm of the force. From all indications that person may be Deputy Commissioner, Law Enforcement, Henry Greene, who would act when Felix proceeds on leave. Whether he would be appointed substantive commissioner when Felix's retirement date arrives is left to be seen. (Stabroek News)

A Suriname court yesterday lifted a ban paving the way for lawyers to contact Roger Khan and his three cohorts who are currently in custody in the neighbouring country pending investigations into drug trafficking, firearms possessions and having links to a criminal organization.

Surinamese lawyer, Irwnis Khanai told Stabroek News from his Paramaribo chambers yesterday that the court yesterday lifted the ban, which was enforced days after Khan and the three others were picked up during a huge drug bust.

However, the lawyer said he is yet to contact Khan and the other men but would endeavour to do so by tomorrow. "I am now free to visit my clients any time and this would allow me to fully represent them," Khanai told Stabroek News. The lawyer has also filed a motion blocking the extradition of Khan to the US.

He is also calling on the authorities to allow the businessman to see a doctor after he had complained of being beaten. Last week the US made a formal request for Khan to be extradited to New York to face charges of conspiring to import cocaine. He is alleged to have committed the crime between January 2001 and March 2006.

Khanai said neither of the two motions was heard yesterday, but he remains hopeful that before the end of the week there would be a decision. Khanai said that so far all four men are coping well.

Asked about the charges levelled against Khan, Khanai said the businessman would have his day in court. "What proof they have that he is linked to a criminal gang or smuggling cocaine?" the lawyer asked. He said that question would be answered in court.

Asked about Sean Belfield, Paul Rodrigues and Lloyd Roberts whose whereabouts had been unclear up to yesterday, Khanai said he knew where the men were being kept and would visit them tomorrow. Two Thursdays ago Suriname police swooped down on Khan and the other Guyanese during a drug bust, which netted 213 kilos of cocaine and two firearms.

Since then Suriname Justice Minister, Chandrikapesad Santokhi said Khan had ordered and planned the assassination of several key government and judicial officials of the former Dutch colony. The minister also said it was since determined that Khan has links with criminal organizations. Besides, the minister said that Khan who was hiding from local authorities was not only a threat to the security of Guyana but also the region.

The drug accused was reported to have been hiding out in Berbice after a police bulletin was issued for him in late March and had only been in Suriname for about two weeks when he was arrested. Sources told this newspaper that Khan's decision to flee to Suriname came following a raid, which had been conducted by the police in Berbice in search of him and the three other persons for whom wanted bulletins had been issued.

Surinamese authorities have said that Khan had been under surveillance for two years. However it is not clear whether there was any collaboration between Suriname and local law enforcement agencies in this exercise.

A US Grand Jury indicted the businessman in April for conspiring to import cocaine into the US. An arrest warrant followed shortly after. Khan then unleashed an attack on the US government, the police force, the army and the main opposition PNCR saying that they were all conspiring to remove the PPP/C government.

He also said that his indictment was motivated by political considerations and that he was the only person capable of preventing a coup against the government. Moreover, the captured businessman said he had helped fight crime during the escapee-led crime wave in 2002-3 employing a network of ex-convicts and members of the then Police Target Special Squad. (Stabroek News)

Roger Khan due back in court this week

SUSPECTED top Guyanese drug smuggler Roger Khan, who remains under very tight security in Suriname following his arrest there nearly two weeks ago in a sting operation, is due in court again this week, an official at the U.S. embassy in Suriname said yesterday.

Khan, 35, was nabbed along with 11 other suspects, including three other Guyanese, Sean Belfield, Paul Rodrigues and Lloyd Roberts, in what police there said was the biggest cocaine haul in that country this year. The operation netted 213 kilograms of cocaine, police said.

Public Diplomacy Officer in the U.S. embassy in Suriname, Thomas Walsh, in a telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday said, subsequent upon the arrest of Khan who was charged with cocaine trafficking by a New York court earlier this year and an arrest warrant issued for him, the U.S. filed two requests - a provisional arrest for the purpose of extradition and for his physical extradition.

According to him, so far the request for provisional arrest has been satisfied, in that the U.S. is aware that Khan is being kept in custody and the U.S. awaits the extradition process to now continue.

Asked how soon the U.S. expects a response to the second request, Walsh said while he could not say, the U.S. is aware that Suriname will have to conduct its own internal judicial process. It was on this note that he made mention of Khan’s upcoming appearance in court, noting that he was taken before an examining magistrate in Paramaribo on Wednesday last.

During that arraignment the office of the examining magistrate was guarded by members of the Suriname Police SWAT team armed with high-powered weapons. “They (Suriname) know of the U.S. interest and we have to await an answer,” Walsh added.

The Guyana Government last week told Suriname that it would not “at this time” seek to have Khan and the three other Guyanese held in Suriname extradited to this country to face prosecution here. The decision was communicated by Home Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira, to her Suriname counterpart, Justice Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

Before his weekly Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Santokhi told Suriname journalists of the discussion he had with Ms. Teixeira and the decision taken by the Guyana Government which gives Suriname more leeway to consider the formal U.S. request for Khan to be extradited to face drugs charges in the U.S.

Teixeira told Santokhi that although Guyanese police are investigating alleged crimes Khan may have committed, it is up to Suriname to prosecute him and his cohorts for offences they might have committed in the Dutch-speaking country.

Meanwhile, local lawyers Vic Puran and Glen Hanoman representing the interests of Khan, remain optimistic that they will eventually have an audience with their client who is being kept in a maximum security prison. And while it is known that Belfield, Rodrigues and Roberts are also in prison, their whereabouts are unknown.

A consul officer reached at the Guyana Embassy in Suriname yesterday would only say that the men are in custody in that country.

Puran told the Guyana Chronicle on Saturday that “Suriname is not a barbaric state.” “At some time, due process will kick in,” he said, in reference to the fact that the Surinamese authorities have denied his colleague Hanoman a request to see Khan.

The U.S. Government earlier this year named Khan among drug traffickers it claimed were gaining a significant foothold in Guyana’s timber industry. “In 2005, the Guyana Forestry Commission granted a State Forest Exploratory Permit for a large tract of land in Guyana’s interior to Aurelius Inc., a company controlled by known drug trafficker Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan,” the U.S. 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy report stated.

“Such concessions in the remote interior may allow drug traffickers to establish autonomous outposts beyond the reach of Guyanese law enforcement,” the report added. Local Police on March 29 put out a wanted bulletin for Khan, shortly after his business places, in and around Georgetown, were raided in joint operations by the Police Force and the GDF.

Police in a press release said Khan, of 133 Rotunda Place, D’Aguiar’s Park, Houston, was wanted in connection with investigations into the discovery of firearms, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items found during the Joint Services operation.

Drug accused businessman Roger Khan was reported to have been hiding out in Berbice after a police bulletin was issued for him in late March and had only been in Suriname for about two weeks when he was arrested in a huge drug bust on June 15.

Sources say that Khan's decision to flee to Suriname came following a raid which had been conducted by the police in Berbice in the search for him and the three other persons for whom wanted bulletins had been issued.

Thus far, neither the local police nor the Surinamese police have provided any information on how Khan entered Suriname. It is widely believed that he entered illegally at one of the several crossing points on the Corentyne River. Positioning himself in Berbice was a tactical move to enable an escape to Suriname which was seen as the most viable option for him. There had been speculation that he might consider going to Venezuela or Colombia.

Stabroek News was told that after police had issued a wanted bulletin for Khan's arrest he and several of his workers fled to Berbice. His lawyer Glenn Hanoman had told Stabroek News that Khan had fled to Suriname in a bid to hide from Commissioner of Police, Winston Felix under whose command the wanted bulletin was issued for his arrest.

Meanwhile, speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, another of Khan's lawyers Vic Puran said that despite Khan and his three bodyguards, Sean Belfield, Paul Rodrigues and Lloyd Roberts being denied justice he was certain that with the passage of time due process would come to the fore in Suriname. According to the lawyer, Suriname is not a barbaric state and every country must preserve its national dignity.

The attorney again lashed out at recent comments made by Suriname Justice Minister, Chandrikapersad Santokhi who told reporters last week that Khan had ordered and planned the assassination of key government and judicial officials of the former Dutch colony. "It is clear that Santokhi, a former Police Commissioner, has misled the Surinamese nation."

Puran said that the minister had even said that Khan is Guyana's most wanted criminal, but his claim has returned out to be false as both Home Affairs Minister, Gail Teixeira and Cabinet Secretary, Roger Luncheon have said differently. Puran noted that Teixeira had said that Guyana was not interested in Khan at this point while Luncheon told the media that there isn't sufficient evidence to charge the businessman.

Khan was charged last Wednesday with violating Suriname's drugs and firearms laws. He is also charged with being a member of a criminal organization. Asked about the whereabouts of the three other Guyanese, Puran said that that remains unknown. He said it was the Justice Minister who continues to deny access to the men's attorneys.

Khan's Surinamese lawyer Irwnis Khanai had filed a number of motions in the court last week. One of the motions is to lift an embargo placed on him and others from seeing Khan and the other men. The lawyer had also filed for an order for Khan to be examined by a doctor. None of these motions has come up for hearing. Puran said that the situation is very distressing. "The fact that these detained men were beaten on such a savage scale suggests that there is no case against them," the lawyer said.

Khan and others were arrested in a huge drug bust in a residential area in Paramaribo, which netted some 213 kilos of cocaine and two firearms.

Khan is also linked to criminal organizations in Suriname and Santokhi said last week that they have already discovered the links and will soon dismantle them. Surinamese authorities have also said that Khan was under surveillance for two years now. It is not clear whether there was any collaboration between Suriname and local law enforcement agencies in this exercise.

A US Grand Jury indicted the businessman in April for conspiring to import cocaine into the US. An arrest warrant followed shortly after. A source in Suriname told Stabroek News last week that Khan is alleged to have links with drug gangs in the country.

The US last week made a formal request for Khan's extradition but Suriname is yet to respond to it. Authorities in the neighbouring country had said that they were intent on prosecuting Khan once they could build a strong case against him. (Guyana Cronicle)

Luncheon

THERE is no real compelling evidence to successfully prosecute suspected top Guyanese drug smuggler Roger Khan in Guyana, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon said here yesterday.

At his weekly post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the President in Georgetown, Luncheon was asked to explain what seems to be a contradiction in the statement by Home Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira that the Guyana Government has “no interest” in extraditing Khan at this point in time, even though the government has been spending millions of dollars recently trying to track down the fugitive businessman in Guyana.

Ms. Teixeira on Wednesday night said the Guyana Government would not “at this time” seek to have Khan and the three other Guyanese held in Suriname last week extradited to this country to face prosecution here.

The decision by the Guyana Government was communicated by the minister to her Suriname counterpart, Justice Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

Before his weekly Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Santokhi told Suriname journalists of the discussion he had with Teixeira and the decision taken by the Guyana Government which gives Suriname more leeway to consider the formal United States request for Khan to be extradited to face drugs charges in the U.S.

Teixeira confirmed that she had spoken with Santokhi and told him of the stand taken by the Guyana Government “at this time”. She, however, categorically stated that the decision is as it relates to the Guyanese fugitive businessman being sent back here from Suriname.

Luncheon yesterday contended that Teixeira’s statement might have been misinterpreted, and should be taken in the context that there was no substantial evidence or information to successfully prosecute Khan in Guyana, compared to that found in Suriname.

“I am not certain that you are interpreting the (minister’s) statement properly. The minister’s statement reflected the evidence, the information that was currently available to the administration and on which the warrant for his apprehension was based. And that information, as we stand right now, has been supported by perhaps what was discovered at his homes and businesses and from our understanding, has not really contributed to the most compelling of cases for a successful prosecution,” Luncheon told reporters.

“This is our understanding and it is in that context when compared with the circumstances of his interdiction in Suriname, that provided a comparative assessment and obviously recognized - what seemed to the minister, the superiority of the findings and the disclosures in Suriname from a prosecution perspective; and I think it is in that context that her (Teixeira’s) statement was made,” Luncheon added.

He was also asked why the Guyana Government did not move to investigate or prosecute Khan based on what was stated in the U.S. 2006 narcotics report that Khan was a known drugs dealer.

His answer was that “declarations by foreign governments and foreign parties, or anyone for that matter, are quite limited in terms of their contributions to prosecution and therefore, even though the spectre has been out there for quite some time, about not only Roger Khan but many others being associated or has contributed or participated in illegal activities, the move to use that information as the basis for prosecution has never been welcomed by our criminal investigation and the prosecution entities in Guyana.”

“In fact, my feeling is that this does not happen anywhere in the world,” Luncheon said.

On this note, he alluded to the critical need to assure a prosecutor or a prosecuting entity that the information that is going to be taken before the court is sound and compelling enough to, beyond any reasonable doubt, lead to a conviction.

And in the absence of that reassurance, he noted that there is generally reluctance to proceed. “That is why much information exists in the communities and among law enforcement agencies but they tend to accumulate that information and on the basis of more investigations and events such as what has recently taken place in Suriname, to build the case,” Luncheon posited.

He noted that at some point in time when a judgment is made – based on a sufficiency of information that will allow beyond any reasonable doubt a successful prosecution – the move to prosecute will have been initiated.

“I don’t believe, on the basis of what has transpired up to the time of the interdiction in Suriname, that that kind of information was readily available and that is why much effort and resources have been consumed in trying to get information and in working to satisfy the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) and the DPP (Director of Public Prosecution) that yes, they have accumulated sufficient and adequate information to undertake a successful prosecution.”

Khan, up to yesterday, remained under very tight security in Suriname, more than a week after he was nabbed in a sting operation that police said resulted in the biggest cocaine haul in that country this year.

The U.S. has requested Suriname extradite Khan who was charged with cocaine trafficking by a New York court earlier this year.

Khan, 35, named in the 2006 U.S. narcotics report as a known drug trafficker, was arrested last week Thursday in Paramaribo, where authorities also seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine and 11 other suspects. An arrest warrant was issued for Khan by a U.S. district court judge in New York in April accusing him of importing cocaine.

Khan, under very tight security, was Wednesday taken before an examining magistrate in Paramaribo to hear charges. During the arraignment the office of the examining magistrate was being guarded by members of the Suriname Police SWAT team armed with high-powered weapons.

Khan, Sean Belfield, Paul Rodrigues and Lloyd Roberts were arrested last week in the major drugs bust along with eight Surinamese men. Khan was believed to have been hiding out in Suriname after the Police here put him on a wanted list in connection with the theft of 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) headquarters in Georgetown.

Luncheon was yesterday also asked whether the Guyana Government will intervene at some stage following reports that Khan’s rights are being violated in Suriname because he is denied being able to meet and speak to his lawyers.

“I do know that the convention surrounding the support by (diplomatic) missions in foreign countries for providing whatever form of support to nationals who run afoul of the law in those country…is fairly well established and indeed, you might be aware, it has been resorted to in England, the United States and in other countries where representatives of the Government of Guyana have indeed been involved in providing various levels of support to Guyanese who have fallen victims or afoul of the laws in those countries.”

“I would want to believe that Khan’s lawyers are aware of this convention and may have been dealing with the representatives of the Government of Guyana in Suriname to provide that kind of support,” Luncheon offered.

He said it is usual for representatives of the mission to seek access to prisoners or people who have been charged to see in what way they could be of assistance in this time of difficulties for nationals.

Luncheon said he believes that if the Guyana Ambassador in Suriname was approached to perhaps visit and try to get some idea about what are the difficulties facing, not only Khan but the other Guyanese detained there, the ambassador “would have very little difficulties in providing those services”.

But when told that, based on reports out of Suriname, the Guyanese Ambassador is contending that he too has not been allowed to visit Khan, Luncheon said he was not aware of this and if indeed, this is the case, then it “actually flies in the face of the convention”.

Meanwhile, Luncheon yesterday also said that the Guyana Government’s collaboration with “other external agencies” as well as its monitoring of the security situation here was continuing apace. He said while the “ongoing high-profile investigations” have not provided the anticipated results so far, work is continuing.

“The operational stance of the law enforcement agencies remained the same with the activities of the Joint Services, particularly the interdictive, featuring prominently in its execution and while the physical presence of the Joint Services is obviously daunting to some, it is also reassuring to many,” Luncheon declared. (Mark Ramotar/Guyana Cronicle)

Gerald Perreira, who handed himself over to the police on Tuesday, months after a wanted bulletin had been issued for him and three others, was yesterday released on $25,000 bail when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate, Cecil Sullivan charged over possession of a pair of police boots.

Perreira pleaded not guilty to the charge. After a disruption in the lower court, because of habeas corpus proceedings in the High Court and the accused not wanting to be dealt with while his lawyer was not present, a seemingly relaxed and smiling Perreira was granted bail.

The police are accusing Perreira of having one pair of Guyana Police Force regulation boots suspected to be stolen or unlawfully obtained at his 86 Lamaha Springs home on March 26.

The man's lawyer attorney-at-law, Vic Puran told the court he does not understand why his client was charged as he produced a receipt for the pair of boots which he had bought. He said the police now have the salesperson who issued the receipt in custody and are alleging that the person fraudulently issued the receipt.

He asked that his client be placed on self bail or that it be set no higher than $7,000, the price he paid for the boots. But in the end, the magistrate set bail at $25,000 bail.

A little earlier, Perreira made an appearance before Justice William Ramlal before whom Puran had filed habeas corpus proceedings on Wednesday. On Wednesday an order was served on Crime Chief Henry Greene to have the man produced before the judge at 9.30 yesterday morning. However, the police took the man to the magistrate's court at 9.05. Five minutes later, the charge of unlawful possession was read to him but he asked that the magistrate not proceed with the matter until his counsel was present.

At that same time Puran was appearing before Justice Ramlal. When Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hawke from the Attorney General's Chambers told Justice Ramlal that Greene had advised him that Perreira would be appearing before a magistrate, the judge said Greene does not run his court and gave the lawyer ten minutes to produce the man.

When the man was produced Justice Ramlal told the lawyer that the police knew the man had to be before him at 9.30 but still took him before the magistrate. He said that they could not take it upon themselves to disobey an order of the court. He contended that the police could have first taken Perreira to him and explained to him he would have been appearing before a magistrate.

Magistrate's Court Prosecutor Inspector Maxine Graham appeared before the judge and informed him that she did not know the man had to be produced before him. But the judge said such occurrences were becoming frequent and warned that the next time it happened he would issue arrest warrants for all concerned.

"A High Court must be obeyed, they [the police] intended to disobey the order of the High Courtâ€¦.This smacks of distastefulness," the judge said. Puran told the judge that when his client left the Brickdam Police Station he was told by ranks that he was going before Justice Ramlal but that was a deliberate ploy by the police to mislead the man whose counsel and relatives were in the High Court.

The lawyer asked that the man be released and allowed to appear before the magistrate as a free man but the judge ordered that he be taken before the magistrate immediately where the bail application could have been heard and if he was refused bail he was to be taken back to the High Court.

In the end, it all ended well for the smiling Perreira as he walked out of court a few minutes after being granted $25,000 bail.

The police had issued wanted bulletins for Perreira and three others, Paul Rodrigues, Ricardo Rodrigues and Roger Khan, but the men had refused to turn themselves in challenging the legality of the bulletins in the High Court, a matter which is still before Justice Ramlal.

But in a dramatic turn of events Paul Rodrigues and Khan along with two others were held in Suriname in connection with trafficking in narcotics and other offences. Perreira turned himself over to the police on Tuesday. (Stabroek News)

Guyana not seeking extradition of Roger Khan here

Suspected drug lord appears before Suriname magistrate

The decision by the Guyana Government was communicated yesterday by the minister to her Suriname counterpart, Justice Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

Before his weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, Santokhi told Suriname journalists of the discussion he had with Ms. Teixeira and the decision taken by the Guyana Government which gives Suriname more leeway to consider the formal United States request for Khan to be extradited to face drugs charges in the U.S.

Reached last night, Teixeira confirmed that she had spoken with Santokhi and told him of the stand taken by the Guyana Government “at this time”. She, however, categorically stated that the decision is as it relates to the Guyanese fugitive businessman being sent back here from Suriname.

Khan, Sean Belfield, Paul Rodrigues and Lloyd Roberts were arrested last week in a major drugs bust in Paramaribo along with eight Surinamese men.

Teixeira told Santokhi that although Guyanese Police are investigating alleged crimes Khan may have committed, it is up to Suriname to prosecute him and his cohorts for offences they might have committed in the Dutch-speaking country.

Khan, under very tight security, was yesterday taken before an examining magistrate to hear charges. Up to press time last night it was unclear what charges were brought against him. During the arraignment the office of the examining magistrate was being guarded by members of the Suriname Police SWAT team armed with high-powered weapons.

Meanwhile, both Santokhi and Prosecutor-General Subhas Punwasi have indicated that extradition of the Guyanese suspects is not a priority for the authorities at this moment, de Ware Tijd newspaper in Suriname reported. According to Santokhi, the judicial authorities have already discovered Khan’s connections with Suriname criminal organizations “and it is just a matter of timing before we bring them down too.”

The U.S. has requested Suriname extradite Khan who was charged with cocaine trafficking by a New York court earlier this year, a U.S. Embassy official in Suriname said Tuesday.

Khan, 35, named in a 2006 U.S. narcotics report as a known drug trafficker, was arrested last Thursday in Paramaribo, Suriname's capital, where authorities also seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine and 11 other suspects.

U.S. officials delivered the formal extradition request on Monday, U.S. Embassy public affairs assistant Cliff Djamin said. The Reuters news agency said Surinamese authorities have not yet responded to the U.S. request made under a treaty between Paramaribo and Washington.

U.S. officials believe an estimated US$150 million is earned every year by traffickers in Guyana -- equal to about 20 per cent of this country's gross domestic product. The formal U.S. request for the extradition of the fugitive Guyanese businessman was made on the basis of the 1988 UN Convention against drug trafficking, officials in Suriname said.

The U.S., in seeking the extradition, took into consideration an international arrest warrant for Khan issued in April 2006 by a U.S. Judge, Djamin said.

Khan, who was believed to have been hiding out in Suriname after the Police here put him on a wanted list in connection with the theft of 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) headquarters in Georgetown, was nabbed in a sting operation in the neighbouring country.

He has since been deemed a threat to the national security of Guyana and Suriname and other countries and was linked by Santokhi to plots to assassinate key government and judicial officials in that country.

He told ‘de Ware Tijd’ the plots were uncovered in the probe by Suriname Police into Khan’s prior activities. He said the planned executions were part of Khan’s business in that country.

The dramatic arrest of Khan in the sting operation ended a two-year close watch on the Guyanese businessman, Santokhi said. He said Khan has been placed under “maximum security” because officials there fear his network may try to break him out of custody. According to the minister, Khan had wide criminal influence from his drug operations and was posing a national security threat not only to Guyana but to Suriname.

He said the “criminal activities” of the detained man extended beyond the two neighbouring countries and the Caribbean and international agencies, including those in the U.S., had been looking for him. Suriname authorities, the minister said, had been following Khan’s moves for two years after they received information about his operations here and in the former Dutch colony.

The arrests by a joint Police SWAT-team and units of the Narcotics Brigade took place at two locations just outside downtown Paramaribo. The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, unsealed an indictment on May 3 last, which charges that Khan conspired to import cocaine into the U.S. between January 2001 and March 2006.

Police in Guyana issued wanted bulletins for Khan and Paul Rodrigues and were looking for Khan in connection with the theft of the AK-47 rifles from the GDF. Since then Khan and several other persons connected to him were on the run and rumours were that they went into hiding in Suriname.

“Such concessions in the remote interior may allow drug traffickers to establish autonomous outposts beyond the reach of Guyanese law enforcement,” the report added.

The U.S. had indicated it was moving to request the extradition of Khan to face charges that he conspired to ship cocaine into the U.S. this year. “We expect that that will be submitted in due course,” U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Roland Bullen said on May 25. Attorney for Khan, Mr. Vic Puran had said his client was prepared to face the local courts and to “deal” with an extradition request from the U.S.

Revelations by Khan caused the U.S. to move away from protocol and to divulge interactions its agents had with the businessman.

An official at the U.S. Embassy here said the embassy chose to speak of meetings Khan held with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) only “because Khan is of active law enforcement interest.”

Local Police on March 29 put out a wanted bulletin for Khan, shortly after his business places, in and around Georgetown, were raided in joint operations by the Police Force and the GDF. Police in a press release said Khan, of 133 Rotunda Place, D’Aguiar’s Park, Houston, is wanted in connection with investigations into the discovery of firearms, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items found during the Joint Services operation.

During their operations, GDF troops and Police ranks targeted all of Khan’s known businesses in Georgetown – Dreamworks Housing Development in Garnette Street; the Reef Club at 60, Station Street, Kitty, and the Master’s Touch Carpet Cleaners at 2nd Street, Bel Air Village.

They also searched his D’Aguiar’s Park home and deployed a team to Kaow Island in the Essequibo River, where he also owns a sawmilling operation. Khan in statements issued in the press claimed that the grand jury indictment and anything flowing from it had been motivated by political considerations.

At the Guyana 40th Independence Anniversary event in Toronto last month, Home Affairs Minister Gail Teixeria told a gathering, “The Americans have called for the extradition of one of the biggest drug lords in our country and as a government we will do everything possible to make sure that narcotics and weapons are removed from infiltrating our society, our communities, our young people.”

She added that the country is also faced by local crime and security problems and they are being tackled by a number of initiatives taken by the government. (Guyana Cronicle)

Shaheed `Roger’ Khan, 35, named in a 2006 U.S. narcotics report as a known drug trafficker, was arrested last Thursday in Paramaribo, Suriname's capital, where authorities also seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine and 11 other suspects. U.S. officials delivered the formal extradition request on Monday, U.S. embassy public affairs assistant Cliff Djamin said.

The Reuters news agency said Surinamese authorities have not yet responded to the U.S. request made under a treaty between Paramaribo and Washington. U.S. officials believe an estimated US$150 million is earned every year by traffickers in Guyana -- equal to about 20 per cent of this country's gross domestic product.

The formal U.S. request for the extradition of the fugitive Guyanese businessman was made on the basis of the 1988 UN Convention against drug trafficking, officials in Suriname said.

The U.S., in seeking the extradition, took into consideration an international arrest warrant for Khan issued in April 2006 by a U.S. Judge, Djamin said. Khan, who was believed to have been hiding out in Suriname after the Police here put him on a wanted list in connection with the theft of 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) headquarters in Georgetown, was nabbed in a sting operation in the neighbouring country.

He has since been deemed a threat to the national security of Guyana and Suriname and other countries and was linked by Suriname Minister of Justice, Mr. Chandrikapersad Santokhi to plots to assassinate key government and judicial officials in that country.

He told ‘de Ware Tijd’ newspaper the plots were uncovered in the probe by Suriname police into Khan’s prior activities. He said the planned executions were part of Khan’s business in that country. The dramatic arrest of Khan in the sting operation ended a two-year close watch on the Guyanese businessman, Santokhi said Saturday.

He said Khan has been placed under “maximum security” because officials there fear his network may try to break him out of custody. According to the minister, Khan had wide criminal influence from his drug operations and was posing a national security threat not only to Guyana but to Suriname.He said the “criminal activities” of the detained man extended beyond the two neighbouring countries and the Caribbean and international agencies, including those in the U.S., had been looking for him.

Suriname authorities, the minister said, had been following Khan’s moves for two years after they received information about his operations here and in the former Dutch colony. Santokhi told ‘de Ware Tijd’, anti-drugs and other agencies in Suriname did not have enough to move against Khan until Thursday when they swooped and netted him in the bust that yielded 213 kilos of cocaine.

“Such concessions in the remote interior may allow drug traffickers to establish autonomous outposts beyond the reach of Guyanese law enforcement,” the report added. The U.S. had indicated it was moving to request the extradition of Khan to face charges that he conspired to ship cocaine into the U.S. this year. “We expect that that will be submitted in due course,” U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Roland Bullen said on May 25.

Attorney for Khan, Mr. Vic Puran had said his client was prepared to face the local courts and to “deal” with an extradition request from the U.S. Revelations by Khan caused the U.S. to move away from protocol and to divulge interactions its agents had with the businessman. An official at the U.S. embassy here said the embassy chose to speak of meetings Khan held with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) only “because Khan is of active law enforcement interest.”

During their operations, GDF troops and police ranks targeted all of Khan’s known businesses in Georgetown – Dreamworks Housing Development in Garnette Street; the Reef Club at 60, Station Street, Kitty, and the Master’s Touch Carpet Cleaners at 2nd Street, Bel Air Village. They also searched his D’Aguiar’s Park home and deployed a team to Kaow Island in the Essequibo River, where he also owns a sawmilling operation.

Khan in statements issued in the press claimed that the grand jury indictment and anything flowing from it had been motivated by political considerations. He said he is perceived by persons in the U.S., the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force and the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform as someone “who has the will and a capacity to fight crime and to protect the people of Guyana.”

At the Guyana 40th Independence anniversary event in Toronto last month, Home Affairs Minister Gail Teixiera told a gathering, “The Americans have called for the extradition of one of the biggest drug lords in our country and as a government we will do everything possible to make sure that narcotics and weapons are removed from infiltrating our society, our communities, our young people.” She added that the country is also faced by local crime and security problems and they are being tackled by a number of initiatives taken by the government. (Guyana Cronicle)

Man wanted with Roger Khan turns himself in

ONE of the men for whom police had issued wanted bulletins along with Roger Khan and Paul Rodrigues, yesterday morning turned himself in at the Criminal Investigation Department in Georgetown, accompanied by his lawyer, Mr. Vic Puran.

Puran told the Guyana Chronicle the police have alleged that Gerald Perreira was in unlawful possession of a military kit. The lawyer said his client turned himself into the police as they were interested in him and as a citizen he wishes to cooperate with them, but continues to refuse to recognise the illegal wanted bulletin.

Puran said he had requested that Perreira be handed over directly to Crime Chief, Deputy Commissioner Henry Greene. However, this part of the arrangement was not honoured, and instead Assistant Superintendent Trevor Husbands was delegated to receive Perreira. The attorney said he queried Husbands about the allegation against Perreira and was told he already knew why the man was wanted by the police.

Puran said he asked Perreira if he knew why the police was interested in him to which he replied in the negative. “I asked Mr. Husbands if that is the only offence (unlawful possession of a military kit) for which Perreira was wanted for questioning and he replied that is the only offence he is aware of and the investigating officer will be Mr. Frederick Caesar,” Puran said.

He added, “I told Husbands that Mr. Perreira will cooperate fully with the investigation.” However, the attorney said “we are requesting that the allegation be put into writing and every question be also put into writing. Thereafter, Perreira will answer every question.”

Puran explained that this request was made to prevent any dispute as to “who asked what and who said what.” He said he further told Husbands Perreira will refuse to be questioned by any person who is not a serving member of the Guyana Police Force and also refuse to be questioned at any place other than a police station.

He told Husbands too that his client will refuse to be questioned by any other person who is not a member of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) or by a member of the GPF in the presence of non-GPF personnel. (Guyana Cronicle)

International arrest warrant out for Roger Khan

U.S. embassy official

Lawyers banned from seeing Khan

AN OFFICIAL of the United States Embassy in Suriname yesterday said an international arrest warrant was out for fugitive Guyanese businessman Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan, nabbed last week in the biggest cocaine bust this year in the neighbouring country.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Tom Walsh told ‘de Ware Tijd’ newspaper of Suriname that a letter was yesterday sent to the Suriname Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting a discussion on extraditing Khan to the U.S. which has deemed him a drugs lord. “The U.S. has requested an official discussion with the Surinamese authorities on this issue”, Walsh told the newspaper.

De Ware Tijd said he further stated that both parties should discuss a possible extradition of Khan to the U.S. first before Washington makes the next move. “But it is a fact that there is an international arrest warrant out for him, so we have to discuss this”, said Walsh.

According to sources, information from a corrupt Surinamese undercover policeman who was on the take of suspected drug traffickers, led to Khan’s arrest and that of 11 other suspects including three other Guyanese men. Up to press time Suriname police spokesman inspector Humphrey Simson could not confirm whether a Surinamese police officer was among the detainees.

De Ware Tijd said the judicial authorities have also banned all contacts between the detainees and their lawyers. Khan who retained Surinamese lawyer Irwin Kanhai to represent him Saturday had a brief visit with the lawyer. The consultation was abruptly terminated after the judicial authorities ordered Kanhai to leave the prison where Khan is being held.

According to Surinamese laws, the Prosecutor General’s office could prohibit contacts between suspects in police custody and their lawyers in an attempt to prevent possible contamination of evidence. This measure, especially in high profile cases, is also being taken if there is a risk that the investigations could be influenced by such visits, the newspaper said.

Khan, 35, who was believed to have been hiding out in Suriname after the Police here put him on a wanted list in connection with the theft of 30 AK-47 rifles from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) headquarters in Georgetown, was nabbed in a sting operation in the neighbouring country last Thursday.

He told ‘de Ware Tijd’ the plots were uncovered in the probe by Suriname police into Khan’s prior activities. He said the planned executions were part of Khan’s business in that country. The dramatic arrest of Khan in the sting operation ended a two-year close watch on the Guyanese businessman, Santokhi said Saturday.

Suriname authorities, the minister said, had been following Khan’s moves for two years after they received information about his operations here and in the former Dutch colony.

Santokhi told ‘de Ware Tijd’, anti-drugs and other agencies in Suriname did not have enough to move against Khan until Thursday when they swooped and netted him in the bust that yielded 213 kilos of cocaine. The arrests by a joint Police SWAT-team and units of the Narcotics Brigade took place at two locations just outside downtown Paramaribo.

The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, unsealed an indictment on May 3 last, which charges that Khan conspired to import cocaine into the U.S. between January 2001 and March 2006. Police in Guyana issued wanted bulletins for Khan and Rodrigues and were looking for Khan in connection with the theft of 30 AK-47 rifles from the GDF. Since then Khan and several other persons connected to him were on the run and rumours were that they went into hiding in Suriname.

An official at the U.S. embassy here said the embassy chose to speak of meetings Khan held with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) only “because Khan is of active law enforcement interest.”

They also searched his D’Aguiar’s Park home and deployed a team to Kaow Island in the Essequibo River, where he also owns a sawmilling operation. (Guyana Cronicle)

But the government soldiers, militia fighters and bush bandits in eastern Congo all have one thing in common - an AK-47 assault rifle.

"At $20 to $50 each, it's pretty easy to get your hands on an AK out here," explains a source close to the militia groups in Democratic Republic of Congo's lawless Ituri district. "There is no shortage of weapons, there are plenty of them," the source added. "Of course ammunition is needed, but that comes in from Uganda easily."

Ituri is a particularly bloody corner of Congo, a mineral-rich but shattered country where four million people have been killed, mostly from war-related hunger and disease, since 1998.

Far removed from central government authority, Ituri has long porous borders with countries coveting its natural resources and a thinly stretched body of United Nations peacekeepers. The region highlights the challenges of controlling the flow of arms around Africa's Great Lakes.

Fighting between ethnic militias exploded in Bunia, Ituri's main town, in 2003 and European soldiers were dispatched to restore order after U.N. peacekeepers failed to prevent hundreds of civilians from being killed.

As Congo prepares for elections this year, thousands of militia fighters have signed up for disarmament programmes, in theory swapping guns for school, training and jobs as civilians. U.N. peacekeepers ceremonially burned stacks of weapons, while serviceable guns seized off militia were given to the new army. An arms embargo is meant to stop fresh supplies coming in.

But, frustrated with the lack of opportunities in their new lives, angry at the excesses of poorly paid government soldiers and loath to stop looting civilians and plundering gold mines, many in Ituri have found it easy to take up arms again.

"There are still weapons that are coming in and this will continue so long as there are people who are willing to pay for them," said Major Hans-Jakob Reichen, spokesman for the U.N. forces in eastern Congo.

"CONGOLESE CREDIT CARD"

Sanctions have been imposed on those breaking the arms embargo. U.N. helicopters fly at night, using thermal imaging to try and catch smugglers. And peacekeepers in speedboats patrol hundreds of kilometres of lakes separating Congo and its neighbours. But militia ranks have swollen in recent months and, as a reminder of their strength, they are holding seven U.N. peacekeepers hostage following a gun battle last month.

Reichen says the United Nations can act as a deterrent but can only do so much to rid the nation of guns. "It is a huge task that the U.N. will not be able to fulfil until the authority of the state is imposed."

Ituri is a microcosm of the Congo, where, analysts say, the wealth in gold, timber, diamonds and other minerals needed by expanding western economies has been plundered by local and foreign armed groups during years of chaos and instability.

During Congo's two wars, the last of which officially ended in 2003, officials handed out weapons to civilians, telling them to use them to defend their ethnic groups from attacks by rivals.

Despite the billions invested in peacekeeping and the determination of the international community to hold Congo's first free elections in over 40 years in July, vast swathes of the country remain outside the government's control.

And thousands of gunmen continue to roam the lawless east armed with their AK-47s -- known to some as the "Congolese credit card" -- harassing and killing civilians. (Guyana Cronicle)

Suriname Justice Minister, Chandrikapesad Santokhi yesterday said captured businessman, Shaheed Roger Khan had planned and ordered the assassination of several government and judicial officials in the Dutch-speaking state, a charge strongly rejected by his two lawyers last night.

The minister made the shocking charge in an interview with the de Ware Tijd (dWT) newspaper yesterday, adding that Suriname authorities intend to take Khan for an extended period out of the community.

Attorneys for Khan, when asked by Stabroek News to comment on the minister's statement, said they found the revelations incredible. "I would not be surprised if the next thing they say is that Khan is close to Osama bin Laden," Glenn Hanoman remarked. He said this new development was troubling and he wondered what would be next.

Vic Puran, another attorney for Khan, said he is alarmed that the Surinamese government has gone to this length. "It is clear now that he (Khan) was not involved in trafficking in narcotics. It is also clear that the only offence that they could pin on him at this time is one of illegal entry and therefore to continue to have him in custody they are fabricating this wickedness," Puran, speaking from his Georgetown home declared last night.

According to the lawyer, the information which establishes the basis for the allegation of assassination could not have come from Khan himself or any of the three Guyanese who were held with him.

Puran asked if it was true that Khan had planned and ordered the assassination of officials why wasn't the allegation made in the first instance since it is damaging and ought to have taken precedence over the drug allegation. "But we are going to expose it all at our time and as it suits the defence of Khan and the three other Guyanese," Puran said.

According to the dWT report the minister made the revelation to both Surinamese and Guyanese journalists in Paramaribo. According to dWT, sources indicated that the Justice Minister was one of the targets, however, the minister wouldn't disclose the names of persons on this assassination list.

According to dWT, when Santokhi was informed that Khan and three other Guyanese nationals were captured he immediately ordered maximum security for the detainees to prevent a possible break-out from jail. Khan, the dWT report said, is being guarded by the special forces of the Suriname Police SWAT team that had arrested him.

"It is a serious intention of the authorities to take Mr. Khan for an extended period out of the community. Not only did he pose a threat to national security in Guyana, but he was also a threat against security in the region since he allegedly was involved in cocaine trafficking and illegal arms trade," the Justice Minister was quoted by the dWT as saying.

Khan and three ex-policemen Sean Belfield, Paul Rodrigues and Lloyd Roberts were arrested during a raid on Thursday in a house in Paramaribo, Suriname. The raid on their house was connected to a sting operation, which netted some 213 kilos of cocaine along with two weapons. Khan had been indicted in the US for conspiring to import cocaine into the country.

A New York court had issued an arrest warrant for him but no request for extradition was made. According to Santokhi, the US has since informed Surinamese authorities informally that they will make a request for Khan's extradition, although the two countries do not have an extradition treaty. Suriname, however under its laws would respond within 30 days once it receives an extradition request.

Meanwhile, Hanoman told Stabroek News yesterday from Paramaribo that Khan's reason for being there was that he was hiding from Commissioner of Police, Winston Felix and he had only recently fled to neighbouring Suriname with three of his bodyguards.

The police had issued wanted bulletins for Khan, Gerald Perreira, Paul Rodrigues and Ricardo Rodrigues in late March after raids on their properties by the joint services unearthed illegal items.

The men had challenged the bulletins through their lawyers and had asked that they be withdrawn. Khan had also said that he does not have any confidence in Felix and challenged the police force that if it had anything against him it should charge him and he would go to court.

Hanoman said he was not aware of Khan dealing with drugs in the Dutch-speaking state neither was he apprised as to whether he had travelled to that country regularly. "I know that he is afraid of Felix and that is why he went there to hide," Hanoman speaking from his hotel in Paramaribo told Stabroek News.

He however admitted that things are looking bleak in the neighbouring country for the businessman who recently swore that he helped fight crime here in 2002-3. "I don't see him coming out of jail for anytime soon. This looks like a very long process and things are rough over here," the attorney commented.

The attorney said that Khan was given a document by the authorities informing him that he would be in custody for at least 14 days. This is as a result of investigations in relation to narcotics and weapons. Hanoman said that Khan was beaten about his body when he and the three others were arrested last Thursday afternoon. Today, Surinamese lawyer, Irwnis Khanai is to make an application to the authorities for Khan to be allowed to see a doctor. Hanoman said they would be hoping that an order would be granted, although that too is not looking promising.

Contacted yesterday Home Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira said that the Guyana Police Force is still interested in speaking to the captured businessman and that a representative of the force has flown to Suriname in connection with the matter.

Teixeira refused to comment further on the matter and when Stabroek News contacted Crime Chief Henry Greene he said that the police force would not comment on the matter at present. He promised that when that they are ready a statement would be released through the police public relations office. Sources also told Stabroek News that a representative of the force is to issue a dismissal letter to Belfield in Suriname as he is still technically in the force after being interdicted from duty.

Attorney General Doodnauth Singh yesterday told Stabroek News that he has not been asked to give an opinion on the Khan issue and he pointed out that it would be up to the police force here to say what they want done.

Hanoman told Stabroek News that he has not been able to see Khan and the prospect of him doing so is not bright. The attorney said that when he first attempted to meet his client the Suriname authorities locked him up in a room and requested his passport to verify whether he was indeed a lawyer.

The lawyer said it was as if he was being investigated for some wrong-doing. Hanoman said too that he had approached the Guyana Embassy in Paramaribo for assistance, but the ambassador was not there. He said that he spoke to another official who wrote a letter to the Prosecutor-General who has not responded as yet. (Stabroek News)

Roger Khan linked to Suriname assassination plots

A Suriname government minister yesterday linked fugitive Guyanese businessman Shaheed `Roger’ Khan to plots to assassinate key government and judicial officials in the neighbouring country.

Suriname Minister of Justice, Mr. Chandrikapersad Santokhi, told ‘de Ware Tijd’ newspaper the plots were uncovered in the probe by Suriname police into Khan’s prior activities. He said the planned executions were part of Khan’s business in that country.

The dramatic arrest of Khan, 35, in a sting operation in Suriname Thursday, ended a two-year close watch on a man deemed a threat to the national security of the neighbouring countries, Santokhi said Saturday. Sources also told `de Ware Tijd’ that among the names on the uncovered `hit list’ was that of Santokhi.

The newspaper said it has also learnt that another of the plots was against a police unit that was involved in the search for ammunition and grenades stolen from a Suriname army base. The unit had been conducting searches for the missing ammunition and grenades in the Nickerie area, in the border region with Guyana.

According to the newspaper, Suriname Prosecutor-General Subhas Punwasi had informed a news conference after it was discovered that the ammo and grenades had disappeared, that Police teams were assisting in the search to recover them.

Santokhi also said that the United States, which has named him as a drug lord they want, is seeking his extradition to the U.S. and a formal request is to be put to the Suriname authorities this week. He said the U.S. Embassy in Suriname has been in touch with the authorities in that country on flying Khan to the U.S. which claims he conspired to import drugs there between January 2001 and March 2006.

Santokhi told the newspaper Saturday that Khan has been placed under “maximum security” because officials there fear his network may try to break him out of custody. According to the minister, Khan had wide criminal influence from his drug operations and was posing a national security threat not only to Guyana but to Suriname. He said the “criminal activities” of the detained man extended beyond the two neighbouring countries and the Caribbean and international agencies, including those in the U.S., had been looking for him.

Suriname authorities, the minister said, had been following Khan’s moves for two years after they received information about his operations here and in the former Dutch colony. Santokhi told ‘de Ware Tijd’, anti-drugs and other agencies in Suriname did not have enough to move against Khan until Thursday when they swooped and netted him in the biggest cocaine bust this year in that country.

Khan and three other Guyanese were among 12 people arrested in the operation which netted 213 kilos of cocaine. The arrests by a joint Police SWAT-team and units of the Narcotics Brigade took place at two locations just outside downtown Paramaribo.

Suriname Prosecutor-General Subhas Punwasi confirmed Friday that Khan was among those arrested. “From at least one of the other three Guyanese suspects I can confirm that he is an ex-policeman. The two others we believe are either in active police service or in the Guyanese intelligence agencies”, Punwasi told ‘de Ware Tijd’.

According to sources, Paul Rodrigues and Sean Belfield, two ex-Guyanese cops, are among the detainees. The identity of the fourth Guyanese detained is still under investigation since he didn’t have identification papers and allegedly entered Suriname illegally.

Punwasi also confirmed that the swoop Thursday was against a Guyana-Suriname gang which was trafficking cocaine from Guyana to Suriname. “This is a big case and we are still following some leads. We want to catch all the persons who are involved in this gang”, said Commissioner Mathoera-Hussainali, Head of the Judicial Department of the Suriname Police Force.

The suspects did not resist arrest and more arrests were not ruled out, she said. Khan was not in hiding in Suriname nor was he there on business, legal or illegal, his attorney, Mr. Vic Puran said Saturday night.

Puran told the Guyana Chronicle the purpose of Khan’s visit to the neighbouring country would be disclosed at a later time, because “if it is now stated it could be misconstrued in view of his current difficulties in Suriname.”

He said Khan’s other attorney, Mr. Glen Hanoman, who travelled to Suriname after his client was arrested Thursday, in the biggest cocaine bust in that country, retained a Surinamese lawyer who had a “supervised conversation” with Khan yesterday.

According to Puran, Khan said he has severely beaten by a dumb bell bar wrapped in wadding and has serious bruises on his ribs and other parts of his body. Hanoman was denied access to Khan who has not seen a doctor, Puran said. He added that the other three Guyanese held in the cocaine bust have also been beaten by Surinamese authorities and the four are being kept in separate places.

Puran said Khan told the Surinamese lawyer that he was being beaten in custody because the authorities want to extract a confession to link him to the 213 kilos of cocaine found in the operation.

The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, unsealed an indictment on May 3 last, which charges that Khan conspired to import cocaine into the U.S. between January 2001 and March 2006.

Police made the arrests and the drug find Thursday at two different locations in the capital Paramaribo. At the first house in a residential area a few minutes drive from downtown Paramaribo, 109 kilos of cocaine were seized by the police squads. Another 104 kilos of cocaine and an automatic gun were found when the police raided a house in Franchepane Straat, Zorg-en-Hoop, also in Paramaribo.

Initially, six Surinamese nationals and one Guyanese were arrested and the other five were held as the investigation progressed.

Police in Guyana issued wanted bulletins for Khan and Rodrigues and were looking for Khan in connection with the theft of 30 AK-47 rifles from the Guyana Defence Force Camp Ayanganna headquarters in Georgetown earlier this year. Since then Khan and several other persons connected to him were on the run and rumours were that they went into hiding in Suriname.

The U.S. Government earlier this year named Khan among drug traffickers it claimed were gaining a significant foothold in Guyana’s timber industry.

“In 2005, the Guyana Forestry Commission granted a State Forest Exploratory Permit for a large tract of land in Guyana’s interior to Aurelius Inc., a company controlled by known drug trafficker Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan,” the U.S. 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy report stated. “Such concessions in the remote interior may allow drug traffickers to establish autonomous outposts beyond the reach of Guyanese law enforcement,” the report added.

Local Police on March 29 put out a wanted bulletin for Khan, shortly after his business places, in and around Georgetown, were raided in joint operations by the Police Force and the GDF.

Police in a press release said Khan, of 133 Rotunda Place, D’Aguiar’s Park, Houston, is wanted in connection with investigations into the discovery of firearms, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items found during the Joint Services operation.

She added that the country is also faced by local crime and security problems and they are being tackled by a number of initiatives taken by the government. (Guyana Cronicle)

In the wake of the largest drug bust there this year, Suriname yesterday declared it would try fugitive businessman Roger Khan and others if it was found that they had broken laws.

Sources in Georgetown yesterday said that the United States is also keen to prosecute Khan following his indictment in New York this year on a charge of conspiring to import drugs.

In Thursday's operation in Paramaribo, Khan and three other Guyanese: Paul Rodrigues, Sean Belfield and Lloyd Roberts, and eight Surinamese were held. The police also confiscated 213 kilos of cocaine.

In an interview with the Surinamese newspaper de Ware Tijd (DWT) yesterday, Suriname's Prosecutor-General Subhas Punwasi said "From at least one of the other three Guyanese suspects I can confirm that he is an ex-policeman.

The two others we believe are either in active police service or in the Guyanese intelligence agencies". Sources in Georgetown said this is because when the Guyanese men were arrested in Paramaribo, two of them were passed off as if they were still active in Guyana's security and intelligence services.

According to DWT, the Prosecutor-General categorically ruled out an extradition of the Guyanese suspects to either Guyana or the United States if the men had committed offences on Surinamese soil. Wanted bulletins had been issued by the Guyanese police for Khan and Rodrigues.

"If Mr Khan and the other Guyanese detainees have violated Surinamese laws they will be prosecuted by a Surinamese court", said the prosecutor.

DWT said that at this stage it is also unclear if the US will seek extradition from Suriname. Tom Walsh, Charge d'Affaires at the US embassy speaking through Public Relations officer Cliff Djamin said, that formally the embassy wasn't notified yet of Khan's arrest. "So we can't comment whether the United States will seek an extradition or not", said Djamin.

DWT, as reported in yesterday's Stabroek News said the police made the arrest and the drug find at two different locations in the capital Paramaribo. At the first house in a residential area a few minutes drive from downtown, 109 kilos of cocaine were seized by the police. At the second spot that was raided police confiscated 104 kilos cocaine and an automatic weapon.

Initially six Surinamese and one Guyanese were apprehended. As the investigation progressed the other five suspects were apprehended. If found guilty the suspects face a jail term of up to 18 years. "This is a major case and we will go for the highest sentence", Punwasi told DWT.

Commissioner Mathoera-Hussainali, Head of the Judicial Department of the Suriname Police Force told DWT that the suspects didn't resist arrest. More arrests were not ruled out, she said. "This is a big case and we are still following some leads. We want to catch all the persons who are involved in this gang", she told DWT.

Prosecutor-General Punwasi said a Guyana-Suriname gang was suspected of trafficking cocaine from Guyana to Suriname and those apprehended were believed to be a part of this. He further told DWT that the authorities were following the moves of this organisation for some time "and when the time was right we have hit them". A small quantity of crack-cocaine was also found, Commissioner Mathoera-Hussainali told DWT.

Commissioner Mathoera-Hussainali and the Prosecutor General told DWT that the police were not looking for Khan in particular, but just acted on information the police force had received about drug related activities.

"When we made the bust at the first place, information has led us to the second address. It was at this place that we have arrested Mr Khan and the other Guyanese", said the Prosecutor-General.

Jurisdiction

Meanwhile a US embassy official here who asked not to be named told Stabroek News yesterday that because Khan was arrested in another jurisdiction, the US Embassy in Georgetown would not have much to say on the matter. He however indicated that the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Washington has been in contact with its officers in Suriname on the matter.

The official said the US would no doubt allow the Surinamese authorities to carry out their investigations before any move is made to have Khan extradited to the US.

It is not clear whether local authorities have any keen interest in Khan returning here and up to yesterday officials would only say that they are allowing their Dutch counterparts to carry out their investigations.

Local police had published wanted bulletins for Khan, Rodrigues and two others in March following the discovery of illegal items on their properties during a series of joint services raids. The men had challenged the wanted bulletins through their lawyers. The matter is before the courts.

Noting that the arrest of Khan, Rodrigues and the others was a well-coordinated operation, the embassy official indicated that the US DEA in Suriname might have had a hand in advising the Surinamese authorities on how to move. The official said too that the capture of Khan is as a result of good intelligence gathering and co-ordination, something, which he said was lacking in Guyana.

Meanwhile, a police source in Paramaribo confirmed to Stabroek News that among the persons arrested in the raids was a Surinamese who heads a criminal organisation there. Asked what would be the next step for the men in custody, the source said that authorities will investigate to ascertain whether all four Guyanese are connected to the drugs and weapon find. He said if they are, then they would be prosecuted by Suriname authorities but if not they will be deported to Guyana. The source added that Khan is on Interpol's wanted list.

Contacted for a comment, one of Khan's lawyers, Vic Puran said that he had not been brought up to date with the matter. According to the attorney, his colleague, Glenn Hanoman had travelled to Suriname early yesterday morning, but he had not made contact with him as yet.

Resources

Khan, 35, fled from the US in the late 90's after he was fingered in a gun case. Since 2002 when he was held near a large cache of weapons at Good Hope, Khan has gained notoriety. He recently admitted that he used his own resources to fight crime in 2002-3 and worked closely with the crime fighting section of the police force. Additionally, Khan said that he had employed a network of ex-convicts and members of the disbanded Police Target Special Squad to work as informants and bodyguards for him.

Since he was indicted by a US Grand Jury for conspiring to import cocaine into the USA, Khan has been releasing statements apparently to muster public support and to stave off any attempt to hand him over to the US authorities. He has so far criticized the US government, the main opposition, PNCR and the police force and the army. He is also thought to be behind the releasing of taped conversations allegedly between Commissioner of Police, Winston Felix and other persons.

Belfield was a police constable back in 2002 when he Khan and Haroon Yahya were found with the cache of weapons at Good Hope. All three were acquitted in the magistrate's court. Soon after, Belfield was dismissed from the police force, but from all appearances he maintained close ties with key members of the now disbanded Target Special Squad of which he was a key member.

Back in February this year he had reported that his five-year-old daughter Tiffany Belfield was kidnapped from the Kingston Nursery School. Commis-sioner of Police, Felix later told reporters that the child's abduction was staged. Since then much has not been said about Belfield but many knew that he was connected with Khan.

Rodrigues, a well known detective during his days in the police force has been affiliated with Khan for a number of years. He was absent from duties for a number of months when police swooped on a house in Bel Air and arrested him and other men with a cache of arms and ammunition. That matter was also taken to the court but the men were all set free. On March 29, the police issued an arrest warrant for him, Khan, Ricardo Rodrigues and Gerald Perreira after raids on their properties unearthed a number of illegal items. (Stabroek News)

Suriname will not extradite Roger Khan

Prosecutor-General

GUYANESE fugitive businessman Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan, named by the United States as a drug lord and nabbed in a sting operation in Suriname Thursday, will not be extradited, a top official in the neighbouring country said yesterday.

And in another startling twist in the broiling Roger Khan saga, Suriname Prosecutor-General Subhas Punwasi said that among the 12 persons arrested in the major drugs bust here are Guyanese still in the Guyana Police Force or intelligence agencies here.

“From at least one of the other three Guyanese suspects I can confirm that he is an ex-policeman. The two others we believe are either in active police service or in the Guyanese intelligence agencies”, Punwasi told the `de Ware Tijd’ newspaper in Suriname.

Khan and three other Guyanese were among 12 people arrested in the biggest drug bust, which netted 213 kilos of cocaine, in the Dutch colony so far for this year, ‘de Ware Tijd’ reported.

The arrests by a joint Police SWAT-team and units of the Narcotics Brigade took place at two locations just outside downtown Paramaribo. Mr. Punwasi yesterday confirmed to ‘de Ware Tijd’ that Khan is among the detainees.

According to sources, Paul Rodrigues and Sean Belfield, two ex-Guyanese cops, are among the detainees.

The identity of the fourth Guyanese detained is still under investigation since he didn’t have identification papers and allegedly entered Suriname illegally. The confirmation of Khan, Rodrigues and Belfield is as a result of documentation retrieved by the police when the men were caught.

Punwasi also confirmed that this was a Guyana-Suriname gang which was trafficking cocaine from Guyana to Suriname. He told `de Ware Tijd’ that the Suriname authorities had been following the moves of this organisation for quite a while now “and when the time was right we hit them”.

According to Commissioner Mathoera-Hussainali, Head of the Judicial Department of the Suriname Police Force, the suspects did not resist arrest. More arrests were not ruled out, she said. “This is a big case and we are still following some leads. We want to catch all the persons who are involved in this gang”, Mathoera-Hussainali told `de Ware Tijd’.

Punwasi categorically ruled out an extradition of the Guyanese suspects to either Guyana or the United States if these countries might seek their extradition. “If Mr Khan and the other Guyanese detainees have violated Surinamese laws they will be prosecuted by a Surinamese court”, said the prosecutor.

The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, unsealed an indictment on May 3 last, which charges that he conspired to import cocaine into the U.S. between January 2001 and March 2006. Tom Walsh, Charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Suriname, speaking through Public Relations Officer Cliff Djamin, yesterday said the embassy up to then had not formally been notified of Khan’s arrest. “So we can’t comment whether the United States will seek an extradition or not”, said Djamin.

Initially, six Surinamese nationals and one Guyanese were arrested and the other five were held as the investigation progressed. If found guilty, the suspects face a jail term of up to 18 years. “This is a major case and we will go for the highest sentence”, said Punwasi.

In addition to the cocaine, a small quantity of crack-cocaine was also found, Mathoera-Hussainali said. Police in Guyana issued wanted bulletins for Khan and Rodrigues and were looking for Khan in connection with the theft of 30 AK-47 rifles from the Guyana Defence Force Camp Ayanganna headquarters in Georgetown earlier this year.

Since then Khan and several other persons connected to him were on the run and rumours were that they went into hiding in Suriname.

Mathoera-Hussainali and Punwasi said the Suriname police were not looking for Khan in particular, but had acted on information the Police Force had received about drug related activities of certain persons. “When we made the bust at the first place, information led us to the second address. It was at this place that we arrested Mr Khan and the other Guyanese”, Punwasi told `de Ware Tijd’.

Although Khan was not at the address where the cocaine was actually found, police have enough information to link him to this case, said the prosecutor.

Asked whether Guyanese Police officers had travelled to Suriname to assist in the confirmation of the identity of Khan and his other accomplices, Punwasi said no, and that the Surinamese Police have made no contact with their counterparts here, as this is a Suriname case. He, however, did not rule out the possibility of making contact at a later stage.

The Guyana Chronicle learnt that in addition to Suriname wanting to prosecute Khan, there may be a glitch in the U.S. seeking to extradite him because of the absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries. An arrangement exists with Interpol, the international police organisation, and speculation is that any move to remove Khan may be through that avenue.

Meanwhile, one of Khan’s two attorneys here, Glenn Hanoman travelled to Suriname early yesterday in the hope of meeting his client. Reports last night were that he had not yet met Khan (Guyana Cronicle)

Guns stolen from Police station

GUN CHECK: Police check weapons before flying into Kurupung from the Ogle, East Coast Demerara airstrip yesterday. (Photo, courtesy Government Information Agency)

FIVE guns and ammunition were yesterday stolen from the Kurupung Police Station in the hinterland while cops normally based there were away from the building, sources said.

Police said they were investigating the suspected larceny of arms and ammunition from the station which occurred at about 07:30 h yesterday. Kurupung is a mining community a few miles from the Pakaraima Mountain range.

Police, in a brief press release, confirmed that four Carbines, a magazine with 15 rounds of .30 ammunition and a 12-gauge shotgun had disappeared but said the circumstances were “not yet clear.”

The Guyana Chronicle understands three Police ranks were posted at the station. A source said that on Tuesday one cop was reportedly ill while another was in Georgetown yesterday for a case in court. The lone rank left at the station reportedly responded to a complaint Tuesday night and left.

While he was away, a person or persons unknown entered the station, broke into the strong box containing the weapons and stole the guns and ammunition. According to the source, the four Carbines were part of a cache of six; the two which were left behind were defective. There were two shotguns also, the defective one being ignored by the perpetrators or perpetrator. The source also stated that 200 rounds of ammunition were stolen.

An unconfirmed report reaching the Guyana Chronicle was that a former rank, who lives in Buxton, East Coast Demerara, and who had previously been posted at the Kurupung station, was recently seen in the area.

The Police Force said Commissioner Winston Felix visited the station yesterday and an investigating team from Police Headquarters, including crime scene ranks, under the command of a senior officer is in the area investigating. A joint operation involving ranks of the Guyana Defence Force to recover the firearms and ammunition is being contemplated, the press release said.

This development comes in the wake of the ongoing and so far largely fruitless search by the Joint Services for 30 AK-47 rifles and five handguns stolen from the GDF Camp Ayanganna headquarters in Georgetown earlier this year. (Guyana Cronicle)

Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan on Monday sentenced a man to three years in prison together with a fine of $10,000 after he admitted to trafficking in ganja. Wayne Anderson (no address given) had 14 grammes of cannabis on June 9 for the purpose of trafficking.

Anderson without hesitation told the court that he had bought the ganja to smoke. He stated that the amount would have lasted him for about four days. Anderson after pleading guilty to the charge of trafficking in narcotics looked quite stunned when the magistrate announced the three-year sentence. (Stabroek News)

Speakers at the service all agreed that justice must be served and have expressed optimism that whoever perpetrated the hideous crime would be arrested and prosecuted. The victim’s class teacher, Ms Yonette Pluck told the funeral gathering, which overspilled the church building with persons from all strata of society and different races, that Roshni was a pleasant child.

Pluck said that, because of financial constraints, the Form 5A student was unable to attend school regularly, sometimes two or three times a week, but whenever she did, the teacher would allow her extra time in the library to document the missed lessons. Like others who paid tribute to the girl, Pluck, too, committed herself to helping the surviving family.

The eulogy was read by Naomi Christie, a fifth former of New Amsterdam Multilateral School, also in Berbice, who highlighted Roshni’s involvement in church-related activities as a member of Nazarene Missionary International and a Sunday school teacher. Christie recalled that it was just the Sunday before her death that Roshni stood at the pulpit and read that day’s scripture lesson for the children’s day programme.

In addition to her involvement in the Nazarene denomination, Roshni was a member of the President’s Youth Award Programme and participated in two expeditions to Linden and Black Bush Polder, coordinator, Ms Nicola Morris stated. Roshni received the bronze medal from President Bharrat Jagdeo at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown after the first outing, Morris reported.

She said the other expedition on upper Corentyne earned Roshni a silver medal and that was given to her mother who was overwhelmed with emotion. There was no vacant seat in the church nor was there a dry eye during the proceedings as mourners openly voiced their opinions about the investigations into the crime.

Earlier, prior to the arrival of the body at the church for the three-hour programme, hundreds of people converged at the home of the murdered girl’s parents to offer words of comfort and sympathy.

However, some in the crowd did not have similar sentiments for the old woman with whom the teenager stayed at nights and the 65-year-old did not respond, only grumbling a few words that were not audible to others, on occasion.

Reverend Bahase Harripaul and Gainlall Hitnarine officiated at the service that included songs and poetry and among those in attendance were Regional Education Officer, Ms Shafiran Bhajan and Headmistress Patterson of Berbice Educational Institute. (Guyana Cronicle/JEUNE BAILEY VAN-KERIC)

Man faces nine charges after confrontation with cops

A GEORGETOWN man, who was involved in a confrontation with cops in New Amsterdam, Berbice, has been slapped with nine charges. All the allegations against 47-year-old Rudolph Henry, including resisting and assaulting peace officers and disorderly behaviour, are related to an incident Thursday at New Amsterdam ferry stelling.

Police Sergeant Satrohan Dayaram, prosecuting, objected to bail when the defendant appeared before Magistrate Chandra Sohan in New Amsterdam Court yesterday. The Prosecutor said if Henry is allowed pre-trial liberty, he might flee the jurisdiction as he lives in the city. However, after attorney-at-law Mr. Rupert Trim explained the Defence version of what happened, surety for Henry, who pleaded not guilty to all the offences, was fixed at $60,000 until June 30.

Trim said Henry was at the stelling discussing cricket when he was assaulted by hostile Police ranks who left marks on his back and destroyed his cell phone. The lawyer said Henry also claimed that a sum of money was taken from him. Dayaram said the defendant was in company with four other men and, because they were acting suspiciously, he was approached by a traffic policeman but Henry drove away.

The Prosecutor said a report was made at Central Police Station in New Amsterdam and more ranks went to the stelling where the defendant committed the offences charged.

Particulars of them said Henry:

* assaulted Colin Wilson, a peace officer acting in the execution of his duty;

* resisted Superintendent of Police Colin West;

* resisted and assaulted Corporal of Police Dorlan Semple;

* resisted and assaulted peace office Ian Hamlington;

* assaulted peace officer Sherland Semple;

* behaved in a disorderly manner within public hearing twice at New Amsterdam stelling and

* behaved in a disorderly manner in the Enquiries Office at Central Police Station, a public place.

THE house in which the teen was murdered Roshni Pertabsingh

A sixteen-year-old girl, a night companion for an elderly female neighbour for years, was yesterday morning brutally raped and her throat slashed by unknown men who invaded the house at Bangal Street, Plantation Warren, Corentyne, Berbice.

Roshni Pertabsingh was writing the Caribbean Secondary Certificate Examinations now under way and had been a companion at nights for her neighbour, Budhia, also known as ‘Dodo Girl’, 65, whose husband has been living for six months a year in the United States.

Neighbours hearing shouts from the house around midnight, said when they got there, they found the student on a bed with her throat slashed. Her underwear had been pulled down to her ankles and there were cuts about her private parts, they said.

They said the attackers bound the hands and feet of the old lady with electrical wire. Budhia said they also gagged her mouth but she managed to work the gag aside and shout for help.

The teen’s mother, Bhojmattie Pertabsingh, said Roshni, about three years ago, began sleeping at Budhia’s home. She recalled that the neighbour went to their house at about 18:30 h Tuesday for her daughter. “I did not finish preparing dinner, but she said it was alright as she will give the girl some fried rice”, she said.

According to the mother, Roshni was a bit hesitant in going but she urged her to go as the neighbour was elderly and needed company. The grieving mother recalled that while sleeping at about 00:30 h yesterday, she was awakened by shouts from other neighbours that invaders were in Budhia’s house.

She said she and her husband went over to the house, four house lots away, where she called for her daughter but got no answer. She said she went to the upper flat of the two-storeyed building and moving through the home which was in darkness, she got to the bedroom occupied by her daughter.

The mother said that when she reached the bed, she turned her daughter over on her back and felt something cold and sticky, like blood. Fearing that the girl, her third child, was dead, she rushed downstairs to tell her husband. Ramesh Sarabjit, a neighbour, said he heard shouts of “Thief! Thief!” at about 23:45 h and armed with a cutlass, went over to the house of Budhia, his uncle’s wife.

He said she was not at home when he got there but the doors were open and he went to a bedroom where he saw the teen lying with her underwear pulled to her ankles. The man said the girl’s throat was slit and there were several chops on her private parts.

Sarabjit said he rushed to the Nazarene Church on the main road where he rung the bell, alerting villagers to the tragedy. He explained that the villagers had collectively agreed that whenever there was an incident in the village, the church bell must be rung as a warning.

Next door neighbour Onawattie Kalicharran was awakened when Budhia called out to her. She said she saw that the woman’s hands were bound with electrical wire. According to her, Budhia stated that her mouth had been gagged and her feet were also bound but she managed to loosen herself.

Neighbours felt two persons had entered the house but no forced point of entry had been identified up to late yesterday. Budhia was not at home when the Guyana Chronicle visited yesterday morning as she had gone to the New Amsterdam Hospital to seek medical attention. Her relatives said it was not known where or how the men entered the house which has protective grill work. This newspaper was also informed that nothing was stolen from the home.

Roshni’s best friend, Sapna Seemangal, also a student of Berbice Educational Institute, told this newspaper that when she received a telephone call yesterday morning, she thought that her friend was playing a prank with her, as she had planned to attend the Guyana School of Agriculture on completing her secondary education, but Roshni was not in agreement.

However, on visiting the home, some four miles away, it was confirmed that her best friend of four years had been killed. Seemangal said her friend had once confided in her about a relationship which she wanted to end after discovering that the boyfriend had other relationships.

Police have taken Roshni’s personal diary. Roshni had completed writing six of the eight subjects she had entered for the current exams. She leaves to mourn four siblings and her parents Madan and Bhojmattie Pertabsingh. (Jeune Bailey Van-Keric/Guyana Cronicle)

THE Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL) terminal at Heathburn, East Bank Berbice, remained closed for business yesterday following the mid-afternoon murder and robbery at the entity on Monday.

Armed guard Allan Jordon, 51, of Third Street, Fyrish, Corentyne, was shot dead in a rampage by men armed with AK-47 rifles who left behind a trail of terror for East Bank Berbice communities.

WIDOW Yvonne Jordon

The five gunmen shot and killed Jordon just after they hijacked and terrorised a taxi driver who escaped with his life. The men, who stole $300,000 from the fuel terminal, escaped in one of the oil company’s vehicles which was later found abandoned.

Sleuths in the Police Berbice Division recovered from the murder scene six 7.62 spent shells which have been sent for ballistic testing, official said. Yesterday, employees at the entity were still traumatized from the deadly robbery which was the first for the company.

Reflecting on the raid which lasted just over five minutes, Ms Harris felt that if the deposits were made as usual, there could have been more deaths.

News of Jordon’s death was met with disbelief by his family. His wife of 26 years, Yvonne Jordon, said he left home about an hour before the attack in which his life was snuffed out. She said that not long after her husband left home, she got a telephone call from one of his relatives who enquired about his whereabouts.

Not knowing that something was amiss, the woman responded that all was well, as he had gone to work. The relative subsequently informed her that Jordon was shot, she said.

She recalled that while contemplating what to do, the family got another phone call from a fellow security guard who informed them of Jordon’s demise. Mrs. Jordon said she subsequently sent her daughter who later confirmed her fears.

Jordon had retired from the Guyana Defence Force and received a special award from the oil company having completed 10 years service in 2004.

Mrs. Jordon said her husband was very loving and hardworking. Jordon also leaves to mourn his children Alex and Anasha. (Guyana Cronicle/JEUNE BAILEY VAN-KERIC)

SOLDIERS in front of the house in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown from where they detained ex-Army officer Oliver Hinckson, and James Gibson, both of whom were wanted for questioning in the disappearance of high-powered weapons from Army headquarters.

The Joint Services said a .38 pistol and 12 matching rounds, along with 27 12-gauge shotgun cartridges were found in the 115 Aubrey Barker, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown house they were holed up in. Their arrests came as the Joint Services searched private homes in the housing schemes of embattled businessman Roger Khan, who is wanted by the United States on charges he trafficked cocaine into that country.

The Army’s Military Criminal Investigation Department had issued wanted bulletins for Hinckson and Gibson in March and they were arrested at 115 Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt yesterday afternoon.

They were among nine persons the Joint Services held for questioning yesterday after conducting a series of operations in which several items were seized, including arms and ammunition, vehicles, a boat, a computer and a small safe.

Yesterday’s operations began in the early hours of the morning with a cordon and search at Khan’s Hibiscus Place housing scheme, Blankenburg, West Coast Demerara. At the scheme four persons were detained and a computer and a private motor car seized, the Joint Services stated in a press release.

Following leads the operation moved to Khan’s Dream Works Housing Development at Farm, East Bank Demerara. At that location two persons were detained, and a 17-foot go fast boat, a canter truck, and a small safe were seized, the Joint Services said.

Shortly thereafter a search was conducted at the house Hinckson and Gibson were in, leading to their arrests. One person was also detained at 35 Guyhoc Park, Greater Georgetown, the Joint Services stated. The Joint Services expressed its gratitude to members of the public who have provided “invaluable” information in its pursuit of persons for whom wanted bulletins have been issued. (Guyana Cronicle)

Another AK-47 killing

GUYOIL security guard shot dead in robbery

THE GUYOIL station

The five gunmen shot and killed Allan Jordon, 51, an armed guard attached to the Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL) terminal at Heathburn on the East Bank Berbice, just after they terrorised a taxi driver who escaped with his life.

SHOCK: Anasha Jordon at the scene of her father’s killing

The men, who stole $300,000, escaped in one of the oil company’s vehicles which was later found abandoned.

Witnesses said Jordon, of Third Street, Fyrish Village, Corentyne, had minutes before the 15:25 h robbery attack resumed duty on the 15:00 h to 23:00 h shift when he was gunned down.

Earlier, hire car driver Razack Abdool, 56, said he was at the New Amsterdam car park when two unknown men hired him for a trip to Edinburgh Village.

DEATH SCENE: the guard hut where Allan Jordon was killed

Abdool said that after the men had driven for a short distance, he heard rapid gunfire. The men then exited the vehicle leaving him alone and he was subsequently rescued by others, he said. Security guard Gary Trim said he was in the guard hut in the compound of the GUYOIL terminal when at 15:25 h, a customer with a truck stopped to purchase fuel.

HIJACKED: the car that was hijacked

“Jordon was sitting on the table backing the main gate, I was facing the gate…I saw Jordon body slumber (and) I knew that he was shot. I then tried to seclude myself at the back of the hut, and was about to pull my service revolver from the holster when one of the bandits pointed his weapon, which resembled an AK-47, to my head,” Trim added.

SURVIVED: Razack Abdool

He related that one of the men said, “If you only use the gun I will blow your brains away,” and proceeded to take away his gun and the other that Jordon had.

Trim said one of the bandits stood guard stood over him, while two others went into the offices where they demanded cash from the staff on duty.

Not being satisfied with the money received, they returned outside and escorted him inside where they demanded he tell them where the safe was.

As the news of the killing spread across Berbice communities, the daughter of the deceased rushed to the scene and was inconsolable when she saw the body of her father, who had left home less than an hour before.

Anasha Jordon said her father had worked the night shift on Sunday and had returned for the afternoon shift when he was killed.

Bandits armed with AK-47 rifles last Thursday night attacked and robbed residents of Nonpariel, East Coast Demerara and later shot dead a man sitting on a bench at the side of a road in nearby Enterprise. (Jeune Bailey Van-Keric/Guyana Cronicle)

The Joint Services have encamped in this incomplete house behind Melanie Damishana. The house is a few metres away from where the army recovered one of its 30 missing AK-47 rifles on Saturday. (Ken Moore photo)

Police ballistics experts said from all indications the army's AK-47 rifle, which was found in a clump of bushes on Saturday at Enterprise is a brand new weapon; they are still working to ascertain whether it was ever used. Stabroek News understands that the ballistics test should be completed by today.

And as residents of Enterprise prepare to bury their dead today, chairman of the village said they are not mobilizing against domestic terrorism nor are they linked to any criminal group. They have complained too over the exact location where the weapon was recovered.

A major dispute has erupted over exactly where the weapon was found. As far as the residents of Enterprise are concerned it was not in their village, but in Melanie Damishana. The Joint Ser-vices, in a press release issued on Saturday said: "One of the missing AK-47 rifles was recovered in the Enterprise, ECD area during a Joint Services operation."

The release further stated that the operation, which was conducted in Melanie, Enterprise, and Non Pareil, was launched to pursue leads that linked two named suspects to the robbery and fatal shooting incident at Non Pareil and Enterprise last Thursday.

The village chairman, who asked that his name not be mentioned, told Stabroek News that the railway embankment separates Enter-prise, which is on the southern side, from Melanie Damishana to the north.

Stabroek News was however told that the weapon was actually found in a clump of bushes just on the periphery of Enterprise. Prior to the discovery of the weapon on Saturday, five males and one female were arrested while a generator and a bicycle, allegedly stolen during last Thursday night's robbery were recovered from an abandoned building west of Melanie and north of the railway embankment.

The house is just a few metres away from where the weapon was found. Currently, joint services ranks have occupied the abandoned building and during a visit by this newspaper yesterday they were also seen in a few half-finished structures.

The humble dwelling of Ramjeet Rampersaud of Enterprise who was gunned down last Thursday by bandits.

Ranks at the scene told this newspaper that since the weapon find they have been posted at the location. Further searches have been conducted in the general area where the rifle was found and also other places.

The joint services had also said that the two suspects they were hunting for on Saturday are known to be linked to a narcotics criminal enterprise that is led by a fugitive from US justice.

Fugitive businessman Roger Shaheed Khan issued a statement on Sunday saying that the joint services were trying to link him to domestic terrorism, which he dismissed.

According to the joint services, investigators are working to establish the accuracy of new information that a group has over the past two weeks embarked on recruitment of persons, most of whom have had law enforcement and military backgrounds. It is felt, the statement went on to say, that the recruitment drive is part of a larger plan to create instability through acts of criminal violence against innocent civilians.

Meanwhile, Enterprise village chairman said his community was very upset with the apparent linking of the village to criminal violence. He said from the reports he received the five men who carried out the robberies in Non Pareil last Thursday and the ones who killed Ramjeet Rampersaud, while he was sitting with his sister near a culvert in Enterprise are gunmen from Bare Root.

The chairman mentioned the name of a notorious figure, who was only recently acquitted on a murder charge, as one of the men who killed Rampersaud. "They were other people on a bridge linking Bare Root and Enterprise on the night Ramjeet was killed and they positively identified the figure," the chairman said.

He said he himself knew the figure well and this information has been passed on to the police. The notorious figure hails from Bare Root, but had spent most of his time in recent years in Buxton.

The chairman said Enterprise is trying to keep the peace, although killings such as the one on Thursday has caused tempers to flare.

"We have a vigilante group and that is all, we cannot confront the criminal these days because they have high-powered weapons, but we aren't mobilizing or linking up with anyone," the chairman declared. Asked whether the village would accept assistance from Khan, who admitted that he helped fight crime in 2002-3, the chairman said no, adding that Khan allegedly has links to the underworld and the village was not into that.

He said Enterprise had a few men who would go over to Bare Root to buy drugs and he would not rule out the possibility of some of them linking up with criminals there. "We have petty thieves and drugs men in this village too, but I don't know of any who is part of a criminal enterprise," the chairman said.

He told this newspaper that he was certain that the motive for killing Rampersaud was not robbery, but rather to create fear among the Indian communities in the area. "But we must find other means to counter this, rather than picking up guns and going after persons of another ethnic group we have to find solutions and live in peace and love."

However, he added, villagers would not always sit down and be overrun by criminals; at some point residents would stand up and defend themselves. Enterprise, Non Pareil, Annandale and other surrounding communities have become targets for marauding gangs operating out of Buxton and Bare Root over recent years.

Despite promises of protection government has failed to deliver and residents continue to live in fear. The chairman said the government was doing a good job in office, but in the area of security it was failing. Rampersaud, who was shot in his chest would be cremated today. (Guyana Cronicle)

He also charged that Guyana was “in the midst of the creeping stages of a military coup”.

In a shocking twist in the hunt for the high-powered AK-47 rifles stolen from Army headquarters, the Joint Services Saturday night did not name Khan, but announced they are checking links that a criminal drug enterprise recently began recruiting ex-Police and soldiers to undertake a violent rampage to create instability in the country.

“Investigators are working to establish the accuracy of new information that this group has over the past two weeks embarked on recruitment of persons, most of whom have had law enforcement and military backgrounds. It is felt that the recruitment drive is part of a larger plan to create instability through acts of criminal violence against innocent civilians,” the Joint Services stated.

The Joint Services said one of the stolen AK-47 rifles was discovered at Enterprise, East Coast Demerara and two suspects, whose leader is on the run from the United States, was arrested. The gun find was linked to the men who Thursday terrorised residents of Nonpariel and Enterprise and shot dead Ramjit Rampersaud.

The Joint Services did not name “the fugitive from U.S. justice” who they said the gun find was linked to but the only local person wanted by the U.S. at this time in connection with drug trafficking is Khan.

In a statement emailed to the media last night, Khan claimed the Joint Services release was a “highly speculative statement that is intended to lead the general public up the garden path to someone they described as a fugitive from U.S. justice”.

“It is clear from the description that the statement hopes to implicate me in more ways than one. The Joint Services release is neither a release nor does it truly emanate from the Joint Services. It is a GDF (Guyana Defence Force) statement that does not set any factual or evidential basis for the conclusion that they hope to conjure up for public consumption. In this sense it is clearly propagandist in nature and it is very telling that the investigators were `working to ESTABLISH (not verify) the accuracy’ of this information while still making bold pronouncements”, Khan argued.

He said the “insinuations of the Joint Services that I am planning to destabilize my country go against every principle which I stand for. It is because of my fierce stand against the `armed African resistance fighters’ and my determination to expose the conspiracy involving the American Government, PNCR, Guyana Defence Force and Commissioner of Police that I find myself being attacked by these very entities.

I have placed my life and that of my family and friends in grave danger in defence of the defenceless; what would I gain from an unstable country? It was because of my intervention in 02/03 that many innocent lives were saved; and again beginning with the meeting with the American Embassy on March 06th, 2006 when I naively thought that I might solicit the assistance of the Americans to intervene to prevent the further loss of innocent lives.”

The U.S. is in the process of seeking the extradition of Khan to face charges that he trafficked cocaine into that country. Police here also say they want him for questioning. The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, unsealed a grand jury indictment on May 3 which charges that Khan conspired to import drugs between January 2001 and March 2006.

The Joint Services said the rusted high-powered AK-47 rifle was discovered in Enterprise Saturday during a Joint Services operation. Sources yesterday said it was found in an incomplete wooden house on the Enterprise Railway Embankment.

The operation, which the Joint Services said was conducted in the Melanie Damishana, Enterprise, and Nonpariel areas, was launched to pursue leads that linked two named suspects to the robbery and fatal shooting at Nonpariel and Enterprise Thursday night. In addition to the rifle, three magazines and 90 matching rounds of ammunition were also recovered, the Joint Services said in the statement.

Prior to the discovery of the weapon, five males and one female were arrested while a generator and bicycle reportedly stolen during the robbery, were recovered from an abandoned building west of Melanie and north of the railway embankment, the statement said.

Sources said victims of the Nonpariel robbery yesterday identified a man, who hails from Victoria, East Coast Demerara, as one of the robbers during an identification parade at Police headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown. However, they said he was not among the suspects picked up at Melanie Damishana during the Joint Services raid on Saturday.

The sources said the Victoria man was picked up by the police early yesterday morning just for the identification parade and was in custody up to press time.

Khan charged that the “planting of evidence on persons and properties connected to me by members of the Joint Services will be forthcoming. Anyone who dares to challenge the `conspiracy’ will be harassed and become victims of attacks by military ranks, as was done (yesterday) on the home of former policeman, Paul Rodrigues.”

According to Khan, a letter by Rodrigues was published in yesterday’s Kaieteur News “challenging the legality of military operations in our society”.

He contended that as a result of the publication, Rodrigues’ home was invaded at 05:00 h by “military ranks demanding to know the whereabouts of Mr. Rodrigues, threatening his wife and children with incarceration. No warrant was produced and his wife was told to tell her husband to desist from any further letters to the press.”

“We are in the midst of the creeping stages of a military coup”, Khan alleged, adding that the “evidence is clear for those of us who want see.”

“All of the operations of the so-called Joint Services are intended to hunt me down and execute me if found; the wanted bulletin is the precursor to my execution. I am asking the government to pay closer attention of the modus operandi of the military. Where are the voices of so many in our society that are seeing what is going on?”

On Thursday evening, Rampersaud and his sister Seuranie Rampersaud were sitting on a bench awaiting transportation when one of three gunmen casually went up and sat between them, and shot the man in his chest at close range.

The gunmen’s target was the Puran family who live next door to the mandir. One of the five gunmen stayed with the worshippers while his accomplices went over to the unsuspecting family. At the time, Puran was not at home as he had left to pick up the pandit, but his wife Pam and children Peter and Polly were inside when the bandits barged into their home through an unlocked door.

Residents said they beat and terrorised them before leaving with an undisclosed sum of money, jewellery, an electricity generator and other articles. It is believed that the same group of AK-47 bandits shot and killed Ramjit after leaving Nonpariel. The 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols were discovered missing from Army headquarters, Camp Ayanganna early this year. (Guyana Cronicle)

Human Services Minister Bibi Shadick expressing the government’s condolences to relatives of Ramjeet Rampersaud.

Human Services Minister Bibi Shadick on Friday visited the family of Ramjeet Rampersaud who was shot on the evening of June 1 by bandits at Enterprise Village, East Coast Demerara.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said the Minister expressed the government’s condolences and pledged to assist with funeral expenses. According to reports, Rampersaud was sitting on a bench chatting with his sister when one of five gunmen took a seat between them and shot him. Rampersaud died while receiving treatment. He leaves to mourn his wife and 13-year-old daughter.

The five men also reprotedly terrorised worshippers at a nearby temple and demanded cash and jewellery. Over the past weeks there has been an increase in criminal activities across the country but Government is working along with the law enforcement agencies to curb these incidents, GINA said.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) recently set up a camp at Buxton Village, East Coast Demerara in an effort to apprehend criminals who are said to be in the village and its surroundings. On April 10, Government launched the US$10M Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded Citizens Security Programme which aims at strengthening the capability of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to fight crime. (Guyana Cronicle)

PLEDGE: Members of the Guyana Police Force recite the Domestic Violence pledge at a recognition ceremony held after they completed a training programme in dealing with gender-based violence.

This was announced by Deputy Commissioner Sidney Bunbury when he addressed a recognition ceremony for some 100 officers who were trained in dealing with gender-based violence issues.

The three-phased training programme was conducted with the assistance of the Canada Caribbean Gender Equity Programme, a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded project. For the training, a link with the Ottawa, Canada Police Service brought to the fore support services options for victims of gender-based violence. Bunbury said confidentiality is crucial in dealing with cases of domestic violence and hence the reason for the inclusion of special rooms in Police stations to deal with the problem.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr. Henry Green noted that the Domestic Violence Act is still not yet fully implemented even though it was passed 10 years ago. He admitted that members of the Force need to change their attitudes when dealing with such issues. Green posited that Police officers should not be “masters” but “servants” of the public, emphasising that while there is the need to be firm, there is also the need for empathy.

High Court Judge Ms. Roxanne George said that gender-based violence remains a grave problem in Guyana. She noted that 40 per cent of the 145 cases up for hearing in the Demerara Assizes this session relate to sexual abuse. Justice George stated that there is need for a more enlightened approach in dealing with such cases, as the legal process is unfriendly to victims. (Guyana Cronicle)

AK-47 gang may be linked to rampage plot

Joint Services

AK-47, ammo, generator found

THE AK-47 recovered by the Joint Services yesterday. (Photos, courtesy Joint Services)

IN A shocking twist in the hunt for the high-powered weapons stolen from Army headquarters, the Joint Services last evening announced they are checking links that a criminal drug enterprise recently began recruiting ex-Police and soldiers to undertake a violent rampage to create instability in the country.

The announcement came after one of the stolen weapons was discovered at Enterprise, East Coast Demerara and two suspects, whose leader is on the run from the United States, was arrested. The gun find was linked to the men who Thursday terrorised residents of Nonpariel and Enterprise and shot dead Ramjit Rampersaud.

The U.S. is in the process of seeking the extradition of Khan to face charges that he trafficked cocaine into that country.

Police here also say they want him for questioning. The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, unsealed a grand jury indictment on May 3 which charges that Khan conspired to import drugs between January 2001 and March 2006.

The rusted high-powered AK-47 rifle was discovered in Enterprise yesterday during a Joint Services operation. The operation, which the Joint Services said was conducted in the Melanie, Enterprise, and Nonpariel areas, was launched to pursue leads that linked two named suspects to the robbery and fatal shooting at Nonpariel and Enterprise Thursday night.

In addition to the rifle, three magazines and 90 matching rounds of ammunition were also recovered, the Joint Services said in a statement. Prior to the discovery of the weapon, five males and one female were arrested while a generator and bicycle reportedly stolen during the robbery, were recovered from an abandoned building west of Melanie and north of the railway embankment, the statement said.

Shortly before, five men carrying AK-47 rifles terrorised worshippers at the Nonpariel Hindu mandir and attacked a next door business place. The gang appeared just after 18:00 h when the mandir on Sixth Street was filled with worshippers at the usual Thursday night service and held them up. The gunmen’s target was the Puran family who live next door to the mandir. One of the five gunmen stayed with the worshippers while his accomplices went over to the unsuspecting family.

At the time, Puran was not at home as he had left to pick up the pandit, but his wife Pam and children Peter and Polly were inside when the bandits barged into their home through an unlocked door. Residents said they beat and terrorised them before leaving with an undisclosed sum of money, jewellery, an electricity generator and other articles.

The robbers threatened to shoot Pam and even dealt her some blows about the body after they choked her. She did not hesitate to hand over the money and jewels after they grabbed her teenage daughter and began threatening her son. It is believed that the same group of AK-47 bandits shot and killed Ramjit after leaving Nonpariel.

The 30 AK-47 rifles and five pistols were discovered missing from Army headquarters, Camp Ayanganna early this year. (Guyana Cronicle)

Winston Felix

Prime Minister Sam Hinds has written Commissioner of Police, Winston Felix asking for an immediate response to certain complaints and accusations being made against him.

No details of the complaints were given in the four-line announcement yesterday afternoon by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon but the request by the PM is most likely in relation to a contentious taped recording doing the rounds.

Felix is expected back in the country today and could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

The tape is of a conversation between two men, one of whom sounds like the Police Commissioner. The two are discussing a theft that occurred at a political party's office and at one point one of the voices suggests that drugs be planted on the suspect for the purposes of determining whether she has any of the stolen foreign currency.

This remark has provoked controversy and calls for the Commissioner to be investigated. The tape furore has also taken on sinister connotations as it is believed that the circulation of the recording was a tactical ploy in the tense standoff between the joint services and figures in the underworld. Two tapes allegedly of Felix's conversations have now been circulated.

The first was distributed just days after several businesses connected with businessman Roger Khan were searched as part of the operation to recover the army's 30 missing AK-47s. Khan also took a copy of the tapes to a meeting he had with US FBI and drug enforcement officials at the Ocean View Hotel. The police have issued an arrest warrant for Khan and he has also been indicted on a drug charge in the US. Khan has since been in hiding from the police.

Yesterday's move by the PM is significant because under the Constitution, the PM is the one of the two prescribed authorities for initiating disciplinary action against the Police Commissioner. Article 211 of the Constitution says that Article 225 (which relates to the removal from office) shall apply to the office of the Commissioner of Police, and the prescribed authority for this purpose is either the PM or the Chairman of the Police Service Commission.

Article 225(4) of the Constitution says that if the prescribed authority advises the President that the question of removing the officer from office ought to investigated, then

a) "the President shall act in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, in appointing a tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members, selected by the Judicial Service Commission from among persons who hold or have held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal mattersâ€¦"

b) "that tribunal shall enquire into the matter and report on the facts thereof to the President and recommend to him whether the officer ought to be removed under this article".

So presumably if the PM is dissatisfied with the response from Felix to his letter he could trigger this investigation.

Pressure

The commissioner has come under tremendous pressure since the tape came into circulation on Saturday on the heels of the other one, purportedly between him and PNCR member, Basil Williams, earlier this year.

The party official in the conversation is named as 'Mike Johnson'. The conversation began with the two persons discussing the loss of a substantial sum of foreign currency from the office of the leader of the party. The money was allegedly stolen by a secretary, a cleaner and a driver. The man on the tape told the person alleged to be the commissioner that he understood that the cleaner was about to leave the country and could be departing with a substantial amount of money.

A promise was then made to work on the issue immediately. "But what I gan do, I gan call narcotics and put drugs pun sheâ€¦And leh deh search she, both she hand pieces and dah check-in piece."

Several references on the tape point in the direction of the PNCR being the party at the centre of the discussions. Congress Place has since said that no official of theirs has ever been in any discussion with the commissioner on any investigation or been involved in any plot to plant drugs on anyone.

The PNCR however refused to say whether there was any investigation in the party about the loss of money saying that was a matter for the party members.

The last conversation on the tape appeared to be between the commissioner and the head of the GDF, Chief of Staff Edward Collins, as it commenced with a female stating that the commissioner was calling for the Chief of Staff, and they were discussing a planned briefing at 3 pm the said afternoon to discuss the flood situation with government officials.

"Which is behind time because this thing going on a long time since before I lef heh," the voice sounding like the commissioner said while describing the brief. "That's right, deh late," said the voice sounding like the chief of staff.

"We coulda tek a grip of this thing very early if we know what government is doing, but deh running all over the place, minister going deh, minister going heh, dem ent telling we nothing. Now when dah thing boiling up over dem (Gail) Teixeira (Home Affairs Minister) calling me just now to tell me that the president (Bharrat Jagdeo) in a temper," said the voice sounding like the commissioner.

"Wah he upset about?" asked the one sounding like the chief of staff. "I wan know, because we ent cause datâ€¦ we gat it under control. Suh I waiting for he call me in a temper because I in a temper to," the first voice said. "Alright you tek it easy, don't get hot around the collar, it is going to blow off just now," cautioned the second voice.

The first voice then said he had some other things to discuss and the second voice suggested that they meet in his office at 2:30 pm before the 3 pm meeting.

Since the first tape was released on March 20, the Commissioner has avoided the heat by denying his is the voice on the tape and challenging the authenticity of the recordings. However, several persons familiar with Felix's voice say the voice on the tape is most likely his and moreover, matters that fit his movements and events that have recently occurred were discussed.

In the first tape, the conversation between the two persons included a discussion on the Agricola killings and the response time of the police to the crime scene. It also addressed the private sector's view on the response time and a call from a minister after the shooting had started. The conversation also appeared to indicate that the police force deliberately placed blame for the Agricola killings on another person whereas it should have been the Buxton gunmen.

The conversation also mentioned in passing the Ronald Waddell killing, the Shaka Blair shooting in Buxton, the upcoming elections and what would happen if the deadline could not be met, as well as the alleged staged kidnapping of Sean Belfield's daughter.

The conversation opened with a discussion of the settlement of a libel matter and referred to a meeting to be held with someone described as No.1.

Security breach

Still unaddressed is the burning issue of who made the tapes and how. Government and other officials have commented on how serious a security breach this would be but thus far no concrete action has been taken by the government. The US FBI had analysed the first tape several weeks ago to determine how it was made and to authenticate the voices but so far no information has been released on this.

In 2002, Khan and several other persons were detained near to a large cache of arms and with sophisticated equipment that could be used to intercept and trace calls. Khan was later taken to court but acquitted. What became of the sophisticated equipment is unknown but there is a belief that it is still in circulation and could have been employed for the purposes of taping conversations.

Khan has also been making various public statements in an apparent drive to whip up public support and avoid being handed over to US authorities. Through various contacts he has said that he helped the police to fight crime and hired ex-convicts and policemen to carry out various operations. The government has since denied that Khan had been engaged by the security services in the crime fight. (Stabroek News)

Dead is Ramjit Rampersaud, of Lot 34 Fernandes Street, Enterprise, East Coast Demerara. Shortly before, five men carrying AK-47 rifles terrorized worshippers and owners of a business place at Nonpariel before making their way to nearby Enterprise where they mercilessly gunned down the man in the quiet of the night.

Ramjit was sitting on a bench near the road, at Pay Office Street, with his sister awaiting transportation when he was shot dead. Seuranie, of Owen Street, Kitty, Georgetown, said that at about 19:00 h, she and her brother were sitting on the bench when suddenly three men appeared in front of them.

The woman said one of the three gunmen sat in the middle of the bench while his two accomplices remained standing in front of them and almost immediately, without saying a word, one of them shot her brother at close range in the chest.

The gunmen, she added, discharged several rounds in the street before walking off into nearby Bare Root.

Seuranie said when gunmen left, a couple approached them and enquired what had happened and she told her brother to run but he said he was injured and walked a few feet before he collapsed on the road, bleeding profusely from the gunshot wound.

The sister said she had been waiting on her husband who had minutes before left to telephone for a taxi to take them home to the city when tragedy struck. Seuranie said the Police arrived on the scene and conveyed her mortally wounded brother to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he died shortly after.

The attack on Ramjit followed a harrowing ordeal for residents of Nonpariel. The quiet of the East Coast village was shattered by loud gunfire from AK-47’s when a marauding group of bandits appeared and robbed, beat, and terrorised worshippers at a Hindu church and business owners next door.

Shortly after 18:00 h, the Nonpariel Mandir, at Sixth Street, was filled with worshippers at the usual Thursday night service when five men armed with AK-47’s entered the church and held them up.

THE house where the robbery took place in Nonpariel

At the time, Puran was not at home as he had left to pick up the pandit, but his wife Pam and children Peter and Polly were inside when the bandits barged into their home through an unlocked door.

Residents said they beat and terrorised them before leaving with an undisclosed sum of money, jewellery, an electricity generator and other articles. The robbers threatened to shoot Pam and even dealt her some blows about the body after they choked her. She did not hesitate to hand over the money and jewels after they grabbed her teenage daughter and began threatening her son.

Residents said that at the mandir, the bandits specifically asked for the Puran family and requested the jewels they often wore for religious functions. The Puran family runs a lumber yard, Pam’s Grocery and Hardware Store and a concrete block business.

When the bandits struck, Pam was preparing to go to her brother’s wake at Enterprise. He will be buried today. Residents said when the Police showed up the gunmen had already made good their escape into Bare Root.

The murdered Ramjit is survived by a 13-year-old daughter, 11 siblings and scores of relatives. It is believed that the same group of AK-47 bandits shot and killed him after leaving Nonpariel.

The Thursday night attack brought back memories of the 2002/2004 spiralling crime wave that hit East Coast villages after five dangerous prisoners made a bloody escape from the Camp Street Prison in Georgetown. Many families fled Nonpariel when bandits attacked, beat, robbed, and even raped female villagers during the reign of terror. Police said no one was arrested up to press time. (Guyana Cronicle)

LOCUS-IN-QUO: Justice Dawn Gregory-Barnes speaks to the jury at the crime scene at Met-en-Meerzorg, West Coast Demerara yesterday. (Quacy Sampson photo)

THE jury in a murder case yesterday took an unusual drive to the crime scene, pulling a large crowd as they and the judge looked over the site. Court officials said the last such visit took place years ago.

The visit to the locus-in-quo (scene of the crime) was to Met-en-Meerzorg, West Coast Demerara, where it is said 40-year old fisherman Elnaton Janathan Wessels was slashed to death, allegedly by Safraz Rahim, following a row outside his home with others on the night of June 25, 2003.

Fisherman Rahim and Gaitree, called ‘Fish Girl’, both of Met-en-Meerzorg, were charged with the murder. After the prosecution, conducted by Miss Nyasha Williams, led evidence to show that by means of a small house bulb witnesses were able to see Gaitree handing a cutlass to Rahim who allegedly inflicted the fatal wound on the neck of Wessels, defence counsel Mr. Hukumchand produced a picture of the scene to show that that was not possible.

The Prosecutor objected to the picture being put in evidence and Justice Dawn Gregory-Barnes upheld the objection. This resulted in Hukumchand requesting that the jurors be taken to the locus-in-quo to see the physical condition for themselves.

The judge granted the request and directed that the jury be taken on a long drive from Georgetown to the scene. There, in the presence of hundreds of onlookers late yesterday afternoon, the judge told the jury that their purpose was to observe. Today lawyers on both sides will address the jury and the judge is expected to sum up the evidence next week. (George Barclay/Guyana Cronicle)

AK-47 gang terrorises East Coast villagers

A GANG of four young men armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols last night stormed into Nonpariel and two nearby East Coast Demerara villages, terrorising and robbing residents. Unconfirmed reports said at least two persons were shot in the rampage.

The four youths, wearing wigs and head wraps to hide their faces, targeted the Puran family which runs Pam’s Grocery and Hardware Store in Nonpariel. Residents said they appeared in the village around 19:00 h and went into a Hindu temple on Sixth Street where worshippers were gathered for the regular Thursday night service, and asked for members of the Puran family by name.

Not finding them there, they swept into the family’s house next door, terrorising them into handing over millions of dollars in jewellery and cash. The gang also left with an electricity generator, DVD player and other items from the house and threatened residents as they calmly walked away, guns at the ready.

Residents said it was clear that the Puran family was their target as they knew who they were looking for and the kind of jewellery they usually wear. They beat and robbed two men they came across on the street as they left Nonpariel, residents said.

Reports said the same gang shot a man in Enterprise and another in Coldingen. The terror attack was reminiscent of the brutal rampage by bandits on East Coast Demerara villages in the crime spree between 2002 and 2004. (Guyana Cronicle)