Gold-smuggling trio held on return to Guyana
Stabroek News, Sunday, March 16th 2008
The three men who had been held in Suriname with a large quantity of
gold were arrested on Friday on their return to Guyana and remained in
custody up to yesterday.
Meanwhile, the police are still working to determine whether there is
any link between the illegal exportation of gold to Suriname and the
incident at Bartica involving robbery under arms and murder of 12
persons.
Police in a statement yesterday said the men were being questioned in
relation to the illegal export with a view to determining whether it is
linked to the Bartica incident.
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. A source told this
newspaper that the gunmen would have taken a large quantity of gold
from this family's home.
The gold that was taken from the men has been confiscated by the Dutch
authorities, though it is not the property of Suriname. This newspaper
understands that the men told Surinamese authorities that they had
purchased the gold in Guyana but had carried it over the border since
they got more money for the mineral there.
Suriname sources said the men were being held for some time before the
authorities decided on their course of action. They were then taken to
court where they were fined.
A well placed source had told this newspaper that the men may be a part
of a well established, gold smuggling ring supported by a network of
Chinese businessmen operating out of Suriname.
This newspaper was also reliably informed that the gold, which the
authorities intercepted, might not have been the full booty and that
more of the mineral had missed the authorities' vigilance on that day.
The source informed Stabroek News too that the smuggling of gold to
Suriname was a regular occurrence and this was possible because some
gold and diamond dealers continue to be dishonest in their declaration
of production.
"The problem is historical and they are not declaring their full
produce, so some are able to escape and they make much more money in
Suriname. It is fairly well established and is a historical problem
which lies mostly in the issue of proper declaration," the source said.
Observers as well as stakeholders in the mining industry had in the
past, raised many concerns with regard to declarations by gold and
diamond dealers and some had gone as far as saying that they were
convinced that only one third of the country's total gold production
was being declared.
"Even while we are seeing declaration increasing to some extent, this
has mostly been so because of increased production capacity. But they
are indeed producing far more gold now and we are still only seeing
less than half of what is produced," the source said.
The source who is also knowledgeable about local mining operations told
Stabroek News that for the authorities to clamp down on smuggling,
vigilance would have to be heightened at the level of mining officers
on the ground.
The source said the record keeping measures in this regard, sometimes
leave much to be desired and added that the declaration system would
have to be enhanced. As such, the source suggested that the forms which
miners are made to full out would have to be done properly and a proper
policing and vetting system implemented.
Many gold dealers have found the Suriname market for gold more
lucrative since the laws there are a bit different and more favourable
in terms of royalties and taxes.
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