Increased foreign presence in Guyana contributes to production of more Coca-Cola

A huge cocaine seizure in Guyana highlights the authorities' reliance on foreign help to detect the large quantities of cocaine transiting the country.

Guyanese authorities, working with information from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), discovered an illegal airstrip where they seized 4.4 tonnes hidden in camouflaged pits in the northwesternmost coastal region of Barima-Waini on August 31.

This record discovery eclipses the 85 kilograms of cocaine seized in 2023 and the 1.6 tonnes seized in total since the start of 2020.

SEE ALSO: Guyana Profile

The country's Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and its coastguard had seized another large haul of 536 kilograms on March 29 after stopping a speedboat in the North Central region of the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara.

Foreign authorities have also seized significant quantities of cocaine on board ships leaving Guyana in recent years.

On March 21, 2024, the U.S. Navy seized 2.4 tons aboard a narcotics submarine 150 miles off Guyana that was headed to Spain. Spanish police discovered a ton of cocaine aboard a Guyana-registered fishing boat off the coast of Cape Verde in September 2023. And Belgian authorities in Antwerp found 11.5 tons in a shipment of scrap metal sent from Guyana in November 2020.

Interpol operations in March and April also uncovered a narcotics submarine capable of carrying three tons of drugs and able to navigate both local rivers and the ocean.

InSight Crime Analysis

This recent record seizure is further evidence of Guyana's continued role as a major drug transit country and also highlights the importance of international cooperation in combating this trafficking.

One of the main cocaine routes to Guyana is through Venezuela, which is a major hub for Colombian cocaine trafficking. The drugs enter Guyana via the Venezuelan state of Delta Amacuro, in the northeast of the country. Protection from corrupt trafficking networks integrated into the Venezuelan military means that the drugs can easily enter Guyana.

However, in addition to Guyana's proximity to Venezuela, the Guyanese authorities' lack of capacity to detect drugs also makes it an attractive trafficking location.

“Not only does Guyana’s geography facilitate trafficking, but its security capabilities are also limited,” Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Research, a research organization, told InSight Crime. “Traffickers know the limitations of the coast guard, police and military.”

SEE ALSO: Guyana struggles to control its lawless waters

Guyana's vast and poorly policed ​​coastline has long been a popular departure point for cocaine trafficking to Europe. The inability of the Guyanese coastguard to cover its 135,000 square km exclusive economic zone presents a huge opportunity for traffickers.

The drug submarine discovered in the Interpol operation was not the first of its kind to have links to Guyana. The first drug submarine discovered in Europe in 2019, a vessel seized by Spanish authorities off the coast of Galicia, was reportedly built in Guyana, hinting at the country’s historical role in transatlantic trafficking.

The increase in flows to Europe could mean that this role is becoming more important. But it is likely that foreign intelligence services are now helping Guyanese authorities make more seizures that reveal the country's importance in trafficking, just as cooperation between French and Venezuelan authorities has helped increase seizures in the French Caribbean.

Increased attention from foreign authorities to Guyana due to tensions with the Venezuelan military over the Essequibo region could potentially lead to more seizures.

“The Guyanese authorities themselves have limited capabilities, but more and more foreign observers will be monitoring the territory, the land and the sea,” Mr. Griffith said. “So it is possible that more observers will be able to find the bad guys, including drug traffickers.”

Main image: Guyanese officials pose next to 4.4 tonnes of cocaine seized at an illegal airstrip in Barima-Waini. Credit: Stabroek News