By Leroy Smith
A truck which was loaded with the contraband that was earlier seized by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) was intercepted on the West Bank of Demerara on Monday afternoon as the items were in the process of being transported to be resold.
The GRA has since launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the departure of the truck from Berbice Corentyne and how it ended up on the West Bank Demerara.
Six civilians are thus far in custody and according to a senior official at GRA, as the probe widens, it is likely to see the implication of personnel from the GRA.
Based on the information the News Room received, the items which were seized over a period of time was being kept at a bond on the Corentyne Coast when the supervisor of that bond reportedly received instructions from two middle-level managers in Georgetown to have the items packed into a truck and escorted to the GRA’s facility at Eccles.
However, the truck with the items which included firecrackers, mosquito coils and Heineken Beers never reached Eccles. As part of the ongoing investigation, the supervisor from Berbice was invited to Georgetown where he was part of a confrontation with the two middle-level managers.
The managers denied that they instructed him to load the truck; however, there are records on the Berbice supervisor’s cell phone which confirm that he did receive calls from the offices of the two managers.
What is also strange is that the truck with the items which was brought to Georgetown was escorted by a car with personnel who are not part of the enforcement arm of the GRA.
The truck which transported the items is registered to a Corentyne Businessman and carries the registration plate – GPP 4226 – while the car which escorted the truck carries registration plate – PRR 5005.
