Massive increase in ganja smuggling linked to Caribbean summer parties

A substantial increase in the smuggling of ganja to the Caribbean has been recorded by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and this has been linked to summer parties.

A total of 543.256 kilogrammes of cannabis was seized last year by CANU as compared to 123.799 grammes the year before.

“The vast increase in cannabis seized during 2018, this was mainly due to a substantial increase of smuggling of narcotics from Berbice and Linden to Georgetown for onward destination to some CARICOM countries,” said Lesley Ramlall, the Deputy Head of CANU.

Speaking at an event to commission the Unit’s new offices Thursday, Ramlall said: “this spike was seen mostly during the June to August period which coincides with the Summer vacation.”

He added: “It is known that a lot of social activities usually occur locally and there is always an increase of tourist to the Caribbean during this period.”

He said CANU has managed to dismantle the main ring that was involved in this activity from Berbice and also effectively curtailed the smuggling from Linden.