Haitians who left Guyana illegally arrested in Brazil

The Brazilian Federal Police have arrested 27 immigrants who entered Bom Fim illegally.

A release from the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) here noted that the interception occurred last evening and early Saturday morning. Of the those arrested are 26 Haitian nationals and one Cuban. Also arrested were taxi drivers waiting to transport them onwards.

“Some of the Haitians arrived in Lethem during this past week. They were initially denied entry into Brazil, but it was suspected that they would try to use other routes to cross over, hence the information was passed on to Brazilian Counterparts by CANU who then alerted their law enforcement units within the area,” the CANU statement noted.

Recently, Brazil’s Federal Police and CANU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to share information and conduct joint operations, involving narcotics and other criminal activities.

“This is one of the successes coming out of this arrangement. The movement of persons through unofficial crossings not only poses a security risk but also a health risk due to the ongoing COVID Pandemic,” the CANU release concluded.