Three persons were arrested on Sunday for attempting to smuggle nine Brazilian nationals into Guyana via Sand Pit, an illegal crossing at the Takutu River near the Guyana/Brazil border.
Police Headquarters revealed that ranks in Region Nine received a tip and visited the area when they discovered a minibus with license plate BRR 4856 being driven by a resident of Tabatinga, Central Rupununi.
Two other residents of Lethem were seen packing the minibus with the Brazilian nationals.
The News Room understands that the driver confessed that one of the Lethem residents hired him to transport the Brazilians to Georgetown.
The Brazilian nationals were escorted back to Bonfim, Brazil and handed over to the Federal Police while the minibus was escorted and lodged at the Lethem Police Station.
The driver and the two Lethem residents were placed in Police custody and subsequently released on bail.
Authorities in Guyana have been struggling to monitor the illegal border crossings across the country as the world battles the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
Lethem’s first confirmed COVID-19 case was recorded on May 12. The patient, identified as Hamlet Da Silva entered Guyana via an illegal crossing.
Da Silva managed to escape from the Lethem Hospital back to Brazil and was captured by Police there.
Two National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) students who returned to Lethem from Brazil to attend school in late June also tested positive for COVID-19.
The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) recently blamed the illegal border crossings for the upsurge of COVID-19 cases in mining areas.
Lethem as of June 05 recorded six confirmed COVID-19 cases inclusive of one death.
Brazil is among the top countries with the most cases and is the epicentre of the outbreak in Latin America. To date, Brazil has confirmed over 1.6 million cases including 64,900 deaths.
