Police intercept busload of suspected smuggled foreign nationals in Reg.10

Twelve foreign nationals suspected to be Brazilians were intercepted by ranks of the Guyana Police Force in the wee hours of Thursday at Rockstone in Region Ten.

The nationals, who Police suspected were smuggled into the country, were heading towards Linden in a route 94 Lethem minibus about 02:00h Thursday.

Guyana’s borders and ports of entry have been closed since March to curb the spread of the Coronavirus Disease (2019) but authorities continue to struggle to deal with the illegal entry of nationals from Suriname, Venezuela and Brazil.

The authorities in Region 10 continue to be rigorous in its effort to protect residents from contracting the deadly disease.

As such Regional Commander, Hugh Winter told the News Room that the Police ranks escorted the minibus with the nationals to the Wismar Hospital in Linden where they were placed in quarantine as they await testing for COVID-19.

Commander Winter said the COVID-19 Task Force in the Region is currently handling the situation.

“We are not going [too] close to the bus because…we don’t want to put anybody at risk so we are trying to ensure persons who cross the border don’t come into this area,” Commander Winter told the News Room.

Region 10 has recorded a total of 11 confirmed COVID-19 cases including one death. As of July 20, ten of them recovered.

The Commander said COVID-19 checkpoints and roadblocks were established at Bamia, where persons enter the Region from Georgetown and at Mabura Road, where persons enter from Region Nine.

Since the closure of the borders to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Region Nine continues to face challenges with illegal border crossing from Brazil. The majority of the recorded COVID-19 cases in Region Nine are imported cases from Brazil.

Brazil has confirmed 2.5 million cases of COVID-19 and over 90,000 deaths.