Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) officers intercepted a fertiliser-laden truck bound for Berbice on Mandela Avenue in Georgetown.[1] The truck was parked at the John Fernandes container terminal on Back Road, Mandela Avenue, where a quantity of narcotics had been delivered to its driver, CANU deputy head Leslie Ramlall said.[2] The interception took place on 16 January 2020.[3] CANU said four people were arrested and taken to its headquarters, where they were assisting with the investigation.[4] The Guyana Chronicle reported that a driver and two porters were arrested at the terminal.[2]

Officers found two white salt bags containing 40 parcels of cannabis weighing 22 kilograms and two parcels of cocaine.[1] CANU described the cannabis as compressed ‘poppy weed’, a local name for the drug.[2] Ramlall said the truck was carrying fertiliser to Berbice and the cannabis was to be taken on to Suriname.[2]

A porter and a driver were jointly charged in January 2020 over the drugs.[5] The charge against the driver alleged that he supplied the 22 kilograms of cannabis to the porter.[3] The charge against the porter alleged that he trafficked the same cannabis.[3] Both denied the charges at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.[3] The magistrate remanded them to prison.[3] The porter was convicted of trafficking the drugs.[6] The driver was acquitted after the court found that CANU had not properly identified him as the supplier.[6] The porter was sentenced to three years in prison and fined GY$19.7 million.[6] The porter told CANU officers that he collected the salt bags and loaded them onto the truck to be taken to the Berbice Bridge for collection.[5]