Guyana Complains of DEA "Blackmail"

by Bert Wilkinson

When local narcotics officials asked the DEA for help last February in searching a Greek-registered ship suspected of having cocaine in its cargo holds, the DEA refused, citing the absence of an interdiction pact with Guyana.

"It is a mild form of blackmail," Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj said then, referring to the thumbs-down the government got from an agency that two years before had flown specialists to Guyana to help locate more than 3,000 kilos of cocaine hidden on the St. Vincent-registered ship M.V. Danielsen.

That haul was easily the largest in Guyana's history and one of the biggest in the English-speaking Caribbean.

The Danielsen has since been confiscated, sold to a local contractor, refurbished and the money placed in an escrow account defray any possible legal challenges.

Officials say they now understand why the DEA has not extended similar help in the search of the M.V New Charm which is currently sitting at the southwestern end of the Georgetown Harbor, its frame rusting from lack of maintenance. Unless Guyana signs the "Shiprider Agreement," the country can expect no help from the DEA, they say.

The ship had sailed from neighboring Suriname and was headed to Rotterdam in The Netherlands with a quantity of rice from exporters both in Guyana and Suriname when authorities impounded it. An initial search turned up 100 kilos of cocaine, but sleuths think more is hidden below the waterline.

But given the fact that this South American republic is one of the last countries refusing to sign the so-called Shiprider Agreement with the United States, no help will be forthcoming -- at least not until a deal is inked.

This is the essence of the agreement the United States wants Guyana to sign, but authorities say carte blanche permission will not be given. Under the agreement outlined by Washington in 1996, a U.S. vessel must be allowed to enter local waters once a local law enforcement officer is aboard.

But in the event that this is not possible, the marines will still be allowed to chase vessels deep into Guyana's waterways with or without the presence of a local "shiprider."

"All we can say at the moment is that the counterproposals that Guyana has submitted to us have been sent to Washington for review. We have received these draft proposals and they are out of our hands," said Henry Bisharat, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown.

Several years ago, Guyana signed an overflight agreement with the United States, but even this has not been fully activated. That deal authorizes U.S. planes to pass through Guyanese airspace in pursuit of aircraft suspected of transporting narcotics to the U.S. mainland.

Washington had also wanted to station a few dozen personnel here to run a small tracking station that would monitor aircraft in the region, but no decision was made on that proposal.

UN figures show that a full 40 percent of the estimated 200,000 tons of cocaine shipped to the United States annually passes through the Caribbean and Central America. Tight control over the waterways and airspace of the region is seen as the answer to dealing with cartels shipping drugs from South America.

The current stand-off between Guyana and the United States, means that the Caribbean country is missing out on some training opportunities in drug interdiction and in acquiring equipment for its own under-equipped coastguard.

The government recently sent a team of military experts to the United States to buy boats for the coastguard, without success. Canada and China have since stepped in, offering to help Guyana locate the equipment it needs.

The rush to acquire fast patrol boats has more to do with Guyana's current hostile relationship with its neighbor Suriname than with attempts to halt drug smuggling.

Guyana and Suriname are currently engaged in a military stand-off over a longstanding border dispute. Suriname has announced it has spent about $48 million buying eight patrol boats, as well as aircraft and military hardware, and Guyana is unwilling to let that challenge go unanswered.