Unrest at Buxton after alleged CANU operation; driver attacked, truck set on fire

The Buxton, East Coast of Demerara (ECD) public road, is blocked off as residents of the area are protesting actions taken early Wednesday allegedly by officers of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU).

Commander of Regional Police Division 4 ‘C’, Khali Pareshram, providing a comment to a reporter at the scene, related that CANU officers were pursuing a suspect in the area and attempted to apprehend him.

He could not offer additional details about the operation.

Residents, however, claimed that CANU officers fired indiscriminately during their operation. One woman complained that bullets entered her house while she slept.

Some residents also identified the suspect CANU officers apprehended as a man called ‘Godfather’. They also reported a vehicle was shot at; that vehicle subsequently crashed into a nearby trench.

In response to the situation, residents blocked the road. On the eastern end of the road, garbage was set on fire while on the western end, a Leyland truck was burnt.

The truck driver said he was driving back to Mahaica after offloading a shipment of rice in Georgetown.

He was unaware of the unrest and while driving by Buxton, he was allegedly attacked. His truck was later set on fire. Police ranks are at the scene and the situation remains tense.