Murders on the rise, largest cannabis seizure recorded in 5 years – Crime Chief

During his presentation at the launch of the Guyana Police Force annual Christmas policing plan on Wednesday, Blanhum further noted that the force seized 1,425 kilograms (3,141 lbs) of cannabis, the largest quantity confiscated within the past five years.

Out of these seizures, he said a total of 188 persons were charged and placed before the court.

“Cannabis seizures were due to daily operations conducted targeting known drug blocks, check points and choke points and this led to the highest cannabis seizure in five years,” Blanhum said.

There were no reports of kidnapping or piracy.

In addition, Blanhum said 14 police ranks were charged for various offences including corruption, simple larceny, conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice, assault and trafficking in narcotics.

The decrease in serious crime has been attributed to the various policing strategies adapted over this period such as intelligence led policing, capacity building, use and handling of confidential informants and importantly, the utilisation of CCTV monitoring room.

“We continued with our roadblocks at strategic locations across Guyana, we continued to actively engage members of the public and also we receive feedback from them as to how we can improve our service delivery,” Blanhum said.

He added, “We have our anti-crime patrols on a 24 hours basis, we have deployed ranks based on our analysis…the command centre has been able to provide real time information to our patrol ranks and investigators.”