Gold smugglers busted in Suriname?
Stabroek News, Thursday, March 13th 2008
The three Guyanese men who were intercepted with a large amount of gold
in Suriname may be part of a well-established, gold smuggling ring,
supported by a network of Chinese businessmen operating out of
Suriname. The trio was reportedly travelling in a locally registered
car.
However there is still a question as to whether there is any link
between this find and the robbery of a gold dealer at Bartica on the
night gunmen waged war in the community and took 12 lives.
A police source told Stabroek News yesterday that the police here have
been provided with the names of the men who were apprehended and are to
be informed as to what action will be taken against them. The source
said the incident could be dealt with as a customs matter and the
persons made to pay the necessary fines in that regard.
Another well-placed source told Stabroek News that there were
suspicions that persons here with close links to mining camps would
purchase gold illegally, accumulate it and then smuggle large amounts
of it to neighbouring Suriname where the laws were a bit different and
more favourable in terms of royalties and taxes, which would have to be
paid. In Guyana, miners are subject to royalties of five per cent and a
tax of two per cent and so selling gold here was not as lucrative.
"So the police there may have caught up with some from that chain of
smugglers," the source said. "But whether the gold they had may have
come from the Bartica robbery is still to be determined."
On February 17 when gunmen stormed Bartica, they had first attacked the
police station where three policemen were shot and killed. They then
went to the CB&R Mining Company where they shot and killed a security
guard and stole 12 guns, a quantity of gold and some petty cash, which
was in an iron safe. Neither CB&R Owner Chunilall Baboolall nor the
police had ever revealed to this newspaper the amount of gold stolen.
The gunmen had also destroyed security cameras at the location.
They then proceeded to the home of gold dealer Gurudat Singh, from
where, it was reported, they escaped with a safe. The source told this
newspaper that the gunmen would have taken a large quantity of gold
from this family's home.
The source explained that many gold dealers have been taking advantage
of the Guyana Gold Board having opened an office in Bartica and were
selling their gold to avoid the security risk of holding it at their
homes or offices.
Many have concluded that the real intention of the February 17 massacre
at Bartica might have been robbery and if the gold found in the
possession of the trio in Suriname came from the Bartica robberies,
then the theories of community members' participation would add up.
On that night, after attacking the community's arm of law enforcement
and crippling any element of protection, the gunmen shot and injured
innocent persons, supplemented their weaponry, and then executed six
men who were on boats docked at the Transport and Harbours stelling.
Killed in the Bartica attack were residents Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian
and Irving Ferreira; policemen stationed at the Bartica Police Station,
Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir, and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron
Osborne, and Deonarine Singh of Wakenaam; Ronald Gomes of Kuru Kururu;
Ashraf Khan of Middlesex, Essequibo; Abdool Yasin; Errol Thomas of
Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo and Baldeo Singh of Montrose, East Coast
Demerara, who were shot execution style at the stelling.
The gunmen were dressed in military type clothing and in bulletproof
vests and armed with rapid-fire guns. They numbered around 20,
residents estimated. The police said some of the gunmen were dressed in
foreign camouflage and khaki clothing and some residents said they also
appeared to be wearing helmets. After the incident the police said that
165 spent shells of 7.62 x 39 calibre, eight 7.62 x 51 spent shells,
three .32 spent shells along with eleven 7.62 x 39 and fifteen .32 live
rounds were recovered.
The joint services have since recovered a gun stolen from the CB&R
Mining Company. Law enforcement officials said they unearthed an
abandoned camp at Bucktown, Wismar, which had been the likely hideout
of the men. Searches at the camp produced a Guyana passport and NIS
card in the name of Baboolall along with a quantity of eating utensils,
a searchlight, a green tarpaulin, a hacksaw blade, and an empty plastic
water container among other articles.
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