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The Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) found several parcels of mercury in a vehicle intercepted near Crabwood Creek, Corentyne, Berbice on Sunday.

According to a CANU release, ranks intercepted the vehicle based on information received. A subsequent search of the vehicle led to the discovery of several parcels of a highly toxic and strictly controlled substance, which was later confirmed to be mercury.

The suspect was arrested and escorted to CANU Headquarters, along with the substance. Following a preliminary evaluation, the seized substance was determined to have an estimated street value of $18 million.

The substance was then handed over to the Ministry of Natural Resources for specialized processing and disposal, while the suspect is currently in Police custody, assisting with the ongoing investigations.

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Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum on Monday commended the dedication, professionalism, and achievements of the ranks of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) during the department’s Annual Awards ceremony.

Several ranks received awards and cash prizes for their work throughout the year.

“Those recipients of awards have worked tirelessly this year to ensure our mandate, which is the prevention and detection of crime, is fulfilled without a reasonable doubt,” Blanhum said.

The Crime Chief also used the opportunity to urge ranks who did not receive awards not to feel deterred or disappointed, and instead reminded them that policing is a team effort.

“You are part of a team, and the success of the team is also your success,” he said.

Highlighting an increase in collaboration during 2025, Blanhum cited strengthened cooperation with national, regional, and international law enforcement agencies.

“The fluency of collaboration was achieved and sustained during the year 2025,” he stated.

Among the major operations highlighted was Operation Orca, conducted between October 15 and November 30, involving Guyana and other South American countries. Following the operation, detectives working alongside anti-crime patrol ranks, removed 18 illegal firearms from circulation, and those found in unlawful possession were prosecuted.

Blanhum also referenced a significant cybercrime breakthrough in September, when the Turkish National Police, working with Guyana’s Cybercrime Unit, dismantled an online group engaged in the distribution of child pornography. The group comprised members of multiple nationalities.

One Guyanese national, identified as an integral member of the group, has been arrested and charged. Investigations revealed that he admitted to participating in the exchange of child pornography videos and photographs with other members.

Blanhum said the CID continues to work closely with international partners to suppress, disrupt, and indict transnational criminal networks. He also cited the notorious R Gang, based in neighbouring Venezuela, whose members were responsible for the deadly Mobil Gas Station bombing in Guyana. Without prejudice to ongoing court proceedings, he said efforts are underway with other law enforcement agencies to arrest the gang’s two top leaders, both Venezuelan nationals, and have them prosecuted in Guyana.

The Crime Chief further emphasised ongoing efforts to enhance the performance of detectives through continuous training.

Blanhum also highlighted notable investigative successes during the year. These include suspects charged for the murders involving Jenny Mohamed, Ryan Fredericks, and Chandradeo Kumar Singh.

Major drug seizures and prosecutions included; the discovery of ammunition and military-grade items, including 24 tear smoke canisters, three tear gas hand grenades, one AK-47 magazine housing, one .32 magazine, and 28 AK-47 live rounds; the interception of 26.7 pounds of cocaine valued at $18.1 million at Eugene F. Correia International Airport and the seizure of 113.05 pounds of cannabis valued at $46.1 million at Wash Clothes Village, Mahaicony.

Additionally, massive quantities of cannabis were destroyed during operations across the country, including; $1 billion worth at Kuyorokuri Creek, Upper Berbice River; $250.4 million at Maria Henrietta, Zion, Kimbia; $688.6 million at Wilson Backdam and $571.5 million at Wuruni Savannah, Upper Berbice River.

 

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Two Chinese nationals were assaulted, resulting in one fatality and one hospitalisation after a robbery in Canje, Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne).

Dead is 61-year-old Chen Yongping, a businessman from Lot 21 Cumberland Village in East Canje Berbice. The other victim, 32-year-old Cheng Dongrong, who is also a businessman from Cumberland Village, is currently receiving medical treatment.

Reports indicate that Dongrong and Yongping ran a food business at the site of the attack, where they produce and package various types of chips.

Dongrong told investigators that around 03:00 hrs, he and Yongping left their home to buy cassava at the Port Mourant Market. Upon returning around 05:00 hrs, as they entered their yard and parked their bus, two men—one short and thin, and the other tall and slim—suddenly rushed in armed with knives.

According to information gathered, the two businessmen became worried and started to shout at the bandits but because they were unable to understand English, they did not completely understand what was happening.

Tragically, one of the assailants stabbed Yongping in the abdomen and twice in the inner thigh before attacking Dongrong with a blow to the head. Meanwhile, the other criminal seized their iPhones along with $150,000 that was left in the bus’s front seat.

After the attack, both assailants fled on foot heading north.

Emergency services were called to the scene, and the victims were taken to New Amsterdam Regional Hospital. Despite efforts to save him, Yongping later died from his injuries. Dongrong was admitted for observation and was eventually discharged.

The body of the deceased is currently at Persaud Funeral Home, stored awaiting a post-mortem examination.

Authorities reported that Yongping suffered one stab wound to his lower right abdomen and two to his right inner thigh.

According to reports, the bandits made off with an iPhone 12 Pro Max valued at $322,000, belonging to Yongping, as well as $150,000 cash and another iPhone 12 Pro Max worth $342,000, totaling $492,000 cash that belonged to Chen Dongrong.

Police have obtained CCTV footage from a nearby business, which is currently under review as the investigation continues to locate the bandits and bring them to justice for their crimes.

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Chase’s Academic Foundation has become the first team in history to defend the KFC International Under-18 School Football title successfully, overcoming Trinidad and Tobago’s St Benedict’s College in a high-stakes penalty shootout on Sunday evening.

In a repeat of the 2024 final—often billed as the ultimate ‘Guyana versus Trinidad’ schoolboy rivalry—neither side could be separated after regulation and extra time at the Ministry of Education Ground.

With the scores locked at 0-0, the drama moved to the penalty spot, where Chase’s Academic held their nerve to win 5-4 and secure the US$2,500 top prize.

While the trophy remains in Georgetown, the individual headline belonged to Malcolm Hendricks.

The Chase playmaker was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), earning a one-to-three-month training stint with Brazilian professional outfit Club Athletico Paranaense.

It is a path well-trodden for the Guyanese champions; in 2024, Chase’s Raydon Krammer was awarded a similar opportunity in Brazil.

The pipeline to professional football was further highlighted by captain Bryan Wharton, who claimed the Golden Boot with a staggering 11 goals, and Flavio LaRose, who was once again named the tournament’s best goalkeeper.

Malcolm Hendrick was the Most Valuable Player

The third-place playoff saw Jamaica’s Kingston College demonstrate its regional pedigree with a clinical 4-1 dismantling of Suriname’s Nikiere Technical School.

Jusiri Hussey was the star of the show for the Jamaicans, netting a superb hat-trick (12’, 26’, 63’), while Nthanda Scott added a fourth in the 51st minute.

Jonathan Gomes provided a solitary consolation for the Surinamese side, who walked away with US$500 for their fourth-place finish.

Coordinated by the Petra Organization, the tournament has evolved into a key fixture on the Caribbean youth sporting calendar.

The 2025 edition featured an eight-team field, with the other four teams being Annai Secondary, West Ruimveldt Secondary, Anglican Central Education Authority (Bahamas) and Jose Veira de Sales Guerra (Brazil).

Organisers confirmed at the closing ceremony that the tournament’s international reach is set to expand even further in 2026, with plans already underway to invite more overseas teams to challenge Guyana’s reigning kings.

The list of champions:

• Shiva Boys’ Hindu College (Trinidad and Tobago) – 2018
• Annai Secondary (Guyana) – 2019
• D.C Caesar Fox Secondary – Waramadong (Guyana) – 2022
• Clarendon College (Jamaica) – 2023
• Chase’s Academic Foundation (Guyana) – 2024
• Chase’s Academic Foundation (Guyana) – 2025

 

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Police are investigating the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Xavier Fraser, a taxi driver of Plum Park, Sophia, Georgetown.

The shooting occurred about 22:36hrs on Sunday night at Mercy Wing, Plum Park. A 19-year-old male, also from Plum Park, was also injured in the shooting.

Police said he sustained multiple gunshot injuries and is in a stable condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

“The circumstances surrounding the incident are being actively investigated,” the police reported.

CCTV footage is also being reviewed as investigations continue. Meanwhile, the man’s body is at the hospital’s mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination.

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A fisherman has gone missing after he reportedly fell into the water during a fishing expedition in the Coppename River, Suriname, on Friday.

The individual missing has been identified as Permaul Punsammy, from Lot 201 Whim, Corentyne Berbice.

His brother, Pellay Punsammy, told the News Room that Permaul set out from the Number 66 landing site with his older brother and two other men on November 26, 2025.

Pellay mentioned that the group was planning to return to Guyana on December 21 or 22. He also said on Friday, family members received a worrying call from the boat’s captain about the incident.

Pellay explained that they were informed that Permaul was casting a seine into the river to catch fish when he fell overboard. After the accident, immediate searches were conducted nearby, but Permaul could not be found.

Pellay stated that the incident has been reported to the Whim Police Station. He mentioned that Permaul’s family and colleagues are actively looking for him.

“I am hoping they can find him. We need some assistance from the Government to get some boats to patrol on the shore,” he said.

Permaul, who has been a fisherman for over 32 years, is a father of six. He also lost his house in a fire earlier this year.

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In a season where ground availability and tournament schedules were often at the mercy of logistical hurdles, the West Demerara Cricket Association (WDCA) has paused to recognise the resilience and excellence of its local stars.

At the 2025 Awards Ceremony, the association celebrated the individual brilliance that shone through a year marked by limited activity, with Imtiaz Ghani and Pameshwar Ram emerging as the primary protagonists.

The headline act of the senior season belonged to Imtiaz Ghani of La Grange All Stars. Ghani was named the Senior Cricketer of the Year, a result of a prolific all-round campaign in the Keen 360 Tournament.

His ability to impact the game with both bat and ball saw him pull ahead of his peers, also securing the award for Most Runs of the Year.

Ghani faced stiff competition from Zeelugt Sports Club’s Trevayne Mohabir, who was named Runner-up Cricketer of the Year after showing impressive consistency across formats.

On the bowling front, Lalta Suknanan of the Windsor Forest Center Team took home the Most Wickets of the Year trophy for his relentless spells throughout the summer.

If the senior honors were about established consistency, the youth awards were a glimpse into the future of Guyanese cricket.

Pameshwar Ram was the undisputed star of the junior category, named Junior Cricketer of the Year and U-17 Cricketer of the Year.

Ram’s 2025 resume is already top-tier; having captained Demerara to victory in the Under-17 Inter-County Tournament, he has already completed the rare trifecta of representing Guyana at the U-15, U-17, and U-19 levels.

Click to view slideshow.

Other notable youth performers included:

• Sachin Balgobin (U-19 Cricketer of the Year): His marathon 169 in the Keen 360 50-over final remains the highest individual score of the season.
• Patrice Fraser (U-15 Cricketer of the Year): The West Meten Meer Zorg spinner emerged as the most lethal wicket-taker in his age group.
• Christopher Persaud: Named Most Improved Wicketkeeper-Batsman, highlighting the technical growth within the Good Fortuin ranks.

Despite the disruption caused by ground unavailability, the Windsor Forest Center Team managed to stamp their authority on the region, being named Club of the Year 2025. Their dominance in the Keen 360 50-over competition proved the difference.

West Meten Meer Zorg Cricket Club took the runner-up spot for their habit of reaching the business end of almost every tournament they entered.

Meanwhile, the Police Cricket Club (Region Three) was recognized as the Emerging Club of the Year, a nod to their rapid development and competitive spirit in the face of more established powerhouses.

In the T20 circuit, the GH Renovations Inc. Tournament ended in anti-climax following team withdrawals, with Cornelia Ida Cricket Club ultimately awarded the championship.

The WDCA acknowledged that 2025 was a “testing” year for the association.

“The awards serve as both recognition and motivation,” the WDCA noted in their closing remarks, thanking sponsors like Guyana Breweries Inc. and Massy Motors for keeping the lights on during a difficult financial climate.

With several players—including Akshaya Persaud and Sachin Balgobin—notching centuries this year, the appetite for high-scoring cricket in West Demerara remains high.

As the association pivots toward 2026, the focus shifts to improving ground infrastructure to ensure that the talent on display this year has a more consistent stage to perform on. (Modified Press Release) 

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Roston Chase’s appointment as West Indies’ Test captain ahead of the 2025-27 World Test Championship in June 2025 came as a surprise.

He had not played Test cricket for more than two years.

With their red-ball side in flux and struggling to settle on a combination capable of delivering home or away, Cricket West Indies (CWI) turned to an experienced head to anchor a period of transition.

Chase’s assignment, though, was never likely to be gentle.

His first three series as captain were scheduled to be against Australia at home, followed by away tours of India and New Zealand later in the year.

The returns ended up being stark: seven defeats in eight matches, with a solitary draw salvaged in Christchurch.

If West Indies’ struggles have been collective, Chase’s own numbers have brought them into sharper focus.

In 16 innings as captain, he has recorded nine single-digit scores, with a highest of 44 and a batting average under 14.

His overall Test average has now dipped below 25.

With the ball, as captain, he is conceding close to 71 runs per wicket and bowling more than 17 overs for each dismissal, leaving him as West Indies’ lowest-returning batter and among their least effective bowlers in the current WTC cycle.

Five of those nine single-digit scores came during the 0-2 defeat in New Zealand, where Chase also let go of the reputation he once carried as Barbados and West Indies’ “crisis man” – the batter who stood firm amid collapses.

At the end of the Mount Maunganui Test, he was candid about his own shortcomings.

“Yeah, I think I had a tough series, very below par for my standards,” Chase said at the conclusion of the series. “I didn’t really lead from the front on the field.

“I thought that leading, in terms of words and encouraging and inspiring the team, that was all good and well. But in terms of going out there and producing for the team and letting the team have someone to look up to as a leader, I thought I let myself down and the team down as well.

“I want to lead both on the field and off the field in terms of encouraging and getting the best out of my players. I want to do that, but I want to go out there and show them that I’m not just talking it, I’m doing it as well and I’m giving my all for the team.

“So, yeah, I was a bit disappointed with my efforts. I thought I got some good balls in the series, but it’s Test cricket, so you will get those periods. But I still thought that I could have given some more. I’ve been working here on some of the deficiencies that the coaches have been seeing in terms of the dismissals. But, yeah, it’s always a work in progress.”

Batting collapses have been a recurring theme for West Indies across these eight Tests, even as isolated individual efforts have flickered through the tour.

Chase, however, drew encouragement from the three centuries scored in New Zealand. Justin Greaves (202*) and Shai Hope (140) batted West Indies into the contest in Christchurch, while Kavem Hodge followed with an unbeaten 123 in Mount Maunganui.

Those knocks accounted for three of the five Test hundreds scored by West Indies across the entire year.

“Yeah, I was going to say that because before this series started, the goal for the batters was to at least get a hundred in every game and we got three hundreds. We didn’t get one in the last match [in Wellington], but three hundreds over the three-game period [was a positive],” Chase said. “So we were very happy with that. It’s something that we’ve not been able to do in the recent past.”

Tactically, Chase felt New Zealand had consistently stayed ahead, particularly in Mount Maunganui. The hosts wore West Indies down by posting 575 for 8 in the first innings, then sensed an opening on the fourth day and accelerated to 306 for 2 at 5.66 runs per over in their third innings.

That approach left enough time to exploit a pitch that deteriorated rapidly, as Jacob Duffy’s five-wicket haul and Ajaz Patel’s support ripped through West Indies, who were bowled out for 138 after reaching 87 without loss.

“As I said, disappointed,” Chase said. “We really wanted to get a win here for the first time since 1995. That was the ultimate goal for the team, and we fell short.

“We thought it would have spun, but we didn’t look for it to deteriorate as much as it did with the cracks and the uneven bumps and stuff. Because after the first day, we could see a lot of green coming off of the wicket, unlike the other wickets where it was green for a longer period.

We thought that this wicket got brown very, very fast.”

West Indies’ next chance to earn WTC points will not come until Chase turns 34. In June-July 2026, Sri Lanka tour the Caribbean for a multi-format series.

West Indies will then play home Tests against Pakistan in July-August and a two-Test tour of Bangladesh in November.

That means they are scheduled to play just six Tests for the entirely of 2026. (ESPNcricinfo) 

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Kerol Thom, a 38-year-old cattle farmer from Brighton Village, Corentyne, Berbice, believes that his six missing cows have been stolen.

Thom told the News Room that he discovered his cows were not in a pen situated a short distance from his residence sometime on Thursday. After the startling discovery, he searched the immediate vicinity and subsequently extended his search to adjacent villages, but was unsuccessful.

Thom, employed as a laborer for a rice farmer, reported that a formal complaint was filed at the Number 51 Police Station.

He believes the animals were removed through a rear gate of the pen. Thom noted that some of the cows had been tethered to a post with ropes, which were found cut, with remnants still hanging inside the pen.

“That’s my livelihood; I depend on them. Since the estate closed, I buy one, one died, and a try with the calf alone. That is where I get increase from,” he stated.

The father of two mentioned that four of the cows were mature and had calves, while the remaining two were without calves. Additionally, two smaller cows were present.

Thom estimated that the total value of the animals exceeds $2 million. He expressed hope of recovering the missing livestock shortly.

Over the years, cattle rustling has become an increasing concern in the Corentyne area.

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The Rotary Clubs of Guyana have come together in a powerful show of regional solidarity, donating financial assistance in the sum of Two Million, Four Hundred and Eighty-Eight Thousand ($2,488,000) to the people of Jamaica in the aftermath of the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.

The funds, raised through the collective efforts of Rotary clubs across Guyana, are intended to support relief and recovery efforts for affected Jamaican communities. Hurricane Melissa caused significant damage to homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods, leaving many families in urgent need of assistance.

Speaking on behalf of the Rotary Clubs in Guyana, Assistant Governor, Rafeek Kassim emphasized that this contribution reflects Rotary’s enduring commitment to Service Above Self and the strong bonds that unite Caribbean nations in times of crisis.

“As Caribbean people, we understand the impact of natural disasters and the importance of standing together,” said AG Rafeek Kassim. “The Rotary Clubs of Guyana are proud to support our brothers and sisters in Jamaica as they continue the difficult journey of recovery and rebuilding.”

The donation will be channeled through Rotary’s trusted network in Jamaica to ensure transparency, accountability, and that the assistance reaches those most in need. Rotary clubs in Jamaica are already working closely with local authorities and partners on the ground to address urgent humanitarian needs.

This initiative underscores Rotary’s role not only as a local service organization but also as a global and regional force, uniting for good—responding swiftly and compassionately when communities are faced with hardship.

The Rotary Clubs of Guyana extend their heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the people of Jamaica and reaffirm their commitment to continued cooperation and support. The Clubs in Guyana are the Rotary Club of Garden City, Rotary Club of Georgetown, Rotary Club of Stabroek, Rotary Club of Demerara, Rotary Club of Georgetown Central, Rotary Club of New Amsterdam and the Rotary Club of Corriverton (Press release)

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