Three Venezuelans arrested at Arakaka with guns, 64.7g marijuana
Guyana police arrested three Venezuelans at Arakaka on 20 October 2023 after finding three pistols, ammunition, 64.7 grams of marijuana and cocaine in a house search. One man pleaded guilty and was jailed for three years for marijuana trafficking plus further terms for cocaine and weapons, while the other two denied the charges.
🇬🇾 Waterfront, Arakaka, North West District · Guyana
On 20 October 2023 at about 5:27 PM, lawmen at the Arakaka Police Station
arrested three Venezuelan men.[1]The men were identified as Eliyer Vera
Venez, Romel Masim and Jiminez Rojas.[2]Ranks had received information that
three men had visited a shop to charge their phones and were seen with firearms
in their waistbands.[3]Shortly after, Reny Melville arrived at the shop and
picked up the suspected Venezuelan nationals.[3]They left on an ATV toward
Melville residence at Waterfront, Arakaka in the North West District.[3]The
ranks requested permission to conduct a search in and around his home, to which
he agreed.[3]The ranks entered the house, where they found three men lying on
the floor, communicating in Spanish.[3]
Police found a Glock 19 pistol, two Beretta 92 A1 pistols and matching
ammunition in a haversack under a bed.[2]At the outpost the suspected drugs
weighed 66.4 grams of cocaine and 64.7 grams of marijuana in the presence of the
individuals.[2]The police took the three Venezuelans into custody, but
Melville escaped while the officers searched his home.[2]
On 24 October 2023 one of the three Venezuelans pleaded guilty and was sentenced
to six years imprisonment in total.[1]For the marijuana he was sentenced to
three years imprisonment and fined GY$58,230 for possessing 64.7 grammes for
trafficking.[1]Romel Marin and Alirio Jimenez pleaded not guilty and their
cases were adjourned to November 13 for trial.[1]
Photos and video
The seized pistols, ammunition and suspected drugs laid out after the Arakaka search. Photo: Police, via Stabroek News.Photo details
The arrest reports name the men as Eliyer Vera Venez, Romel Masim and Jiminez Rojas, while the court report spells them as Eliezer Vera, Romel Marin and Alirio Jimenez.
Cannabis figures record only the 64.7 grams of marijuana; the 66.4 grams of cocaine and the pistols and ammunition are described for context and excluded from cannabis quantities.
Figures record the three-year marijuana term and GY$58,230 marijuana fine; the court imposed six years in total with a concurrent cocaine term and consecutive weapons terms.
No outcome was reported in the opened sources for the two men who pleaded not guilty after the 13 November 2023 adjournment, or for Reny Melville, who escaped during the search.
The incident date is 24 October 2023, the sentencing step; the arrest and seizure occurred on 20 October 2023.
Timothy Mc Garrell, 24, pleaded guilty at the Vigilance Magistrate's Court on 18 February 2026 to introducing cannabis into the Lusignan Prison hidden under his slipper soles. Senior Magistrate Sunil Scarce sentenced him to three years in prison and fined him $30,000.
Nishart Samsundar, 20, was jailed for four years and fined G$1,778,400 on 31 January 2024 after pleading guilty to trafficking and cultivation following a CANU raid on a cannabis farm at Hauraruni Village.
Arrested 2Plants destroyed 5,200Cannabis 1.976 kgPrison 4 years
Latchman Sankar, 39, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined G$49.6 million on 18 January 2024 after admitting possession of more than 55 kg of cannabis. CANU officers had arrested him with Sanya Ramrattan three days earlier at Hubu Parika, seizing 102 parcels valued at about G$20 million.
Two Parika labourers were charged at the Leonora Magistrate Court over separate cannabis finds of 49 grammes and 53 grammes by the Leonora Police Station in August 2023. One pleaded not guilty and was bailed at $150,000; the other pleaded guilty and was fined $30,000 and jailed three months.
