Suriname police officer held at Burnside checkpoint with two suitcases of cannabis
A Suriname police officer was arrested at the Burnside checkpoint in Coronie on 24 August 2026 after officers found two suitcases of suspected marijuana in his vehicle. Police held him in custody and sent the case to their internal investigation department.
A police officer was stopped at the Burnside checkpoint in Coronie, Suriname,
on 24 August 2026 and arrested after officers found suspected marijuana in his
vehicle.[1][2][3]
The vehicle held two suitcases with plastic-wrapped, compressed blocks.[1][2][3]Closer inspection showed dried leaves, stems and seeds that closely resembled
Cannabis sativa, police said.[1][3]
Police identified the driver as a 38-year-old officer, giving his initials as
L.R.; Dagblad Suriname gave them as R.L.[1][2]He was taken to a police
station and, after consultation with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, held in
custody pending the investigation.[1][2][3]
The vehicle and the drugs were seized, and the case was transferred to the
Police Affairs Investigation Department (OPZ), the police unit that investigates
cases against officers.[1][3]
Dagblad Suriname said he was taken to the police station in Totness; the police
statement said the station in Coronie.[1][2]Police did not give the weight of
the cannabis or a value for it.[1][2]
Photos and video
Two suitcases holding plastic-wrapped blocks labelled “Queen cannabis”, photographed by police after the arrest at Burnside. Photo: Korps Politie Suriname.Photo details
Police arrested two people at Tamansarie on 5 November 2026 after a tip that a dealer was selling drugs from his car near two schools in Tamanredjo. Officers found crack cocaine and marijuana plus packaging material and a precision scale in the car; the suspected seller was detained while the drug user arrested with him was released.
A Surinamese police unit checked drug sales points in Albina and Moengo in Marowijne district on 4 November 2026, firing warning shots in Albina when a suspect ran off into a thicket. In Moengo police held a man known by the initials P.R. with an unspecified amount of hashish, which he said was for his own use, and kept him in pre-trial custody.
Suriname's Narcotica Brigade arrested a 53-year-old man at an address on the Bealaan in Paramaribo on 3 November 2026 after he tried and failed to flush 56 grams of marijuana down the toilet. Police held him in verzekering, Suriname's pre-trial custody, after consulting prosecutors.
Police in eastern Suriname arrested 37-year-old civil servant O.S. in Mariënburg on 31 October 2026 with 72 grams of hashish. He said it was for personal use, but he is also accused of selling drugs to young people and was placed in pretrial detention.
