Borders being ‘tightened’ to stem flow of guns from Brazil
The authorities are looking at a range of options to address the spike in crime in Guyana and one of the focus areas is preventing the flow of guns from neighbouring Brazil.
This is according to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon who told a post-cabinet media briefing on Thursday, February 08, 2018 that a security strategy is in place to tackle the issue.
“We do not manufacture guns in Guyana and so, what we are paying attention to now, is what happens at our borders, because when you look at the guns which are being used, those being recovered by the police, and you check on the country of origin where they are being manufactured, we see a large amount of these guns, coming across from our neighbouring Brazil,” the State Minister said.
Brazil is one of the large manufacturers of small arms weapons and according to Minister Harmon the fact remains that Guyana’s border situation allows for easy access between Guyana and the other countries
“Vehicles come over, motorcycles come over, guns at the same time come over. We are looking at tightening up our activities at the borders particularly so that we can prevent the inward flow of these things.”
He disclosed that the Guyana Police Force is targeting some of the areas where they recognise that there are high crime activities.
“I trust that citizens will cooperate with the police in the crime-fighting activities which are taking place and which will take place as a result of this spike in crime,” the State Minister urged.