While Guyana may be home to the largest deepwater oil deposit of the decade, its lawmen remain underpaid. Coupled with the lack of resources for its institutions and shortcomings in the legal system, drug traffickers are able to easily exploit the world’s fastest growing economy with their cocaine and marijuana trade. This was one of the damning perspectives outlined in a recent report by the USA.
The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) is an annual report by the Department of State to Congress, prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade.
For its report on Guyana, it was noted that the country has shown a commitment to working with international partners to address drug trafficking. In September 2024, the report highlighted that the government launched the National Defense Institute to build security expertise through its collaboration with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and U.S. security and defense institutions.
Further, the report stated that the government collaborated with the United States to increase seizures in 2024, especially for cocaine. In this regard, the report stated that the United States and Guyana’s Joint Interagency Task Force, including its Defense Force (GDF), collaborated to seize 4.4 MT of cocaine worth approximately US$195 million – the country’s largest ever drug seizure – and the interception of a self-propelled semisubmersible (SPSS) approximately 150 miles off the coast of Guyana with 2.3 MT of cocaine. Authorities also found a low-profile vessel (LPV), empty and abandoned in the waterways near Port Kaituma, near the Venezuelan border.
As of October, the report notes that no arrests had been made and the investigation was ongoing. Notably, these two events resulted in a huge increase in cocaine seizures for the period of January through September 2024 – 6,700 kilograms (kg) versus 62 kg for the same period in 2023.
As for marijuana seizures for 2024, the report said this totaled 1.4 MT, versus 1.1 MT for the same period in 2023. Methamphetamine was a distant third for the quantity of drugs seized in 2024 (.06 kg).
The report also highlighted the role of corruption in weakening Guyana’s ability to inhibit the drug trade. “…Authorities often drop charges or never file them and do not conduct serious investigations; traffickers are able to evade prosecution. Additionally, the economic appeal of the drug trade in Guyana, with its high poverty rate and low-paying public sector jobs, leads individuals to become involved in illicit activities and hinders efforts to curb trafficking,” the report said.
With the foregoing considered, the US Department of State recommended that Guyanese authorities fight drug trafficking by enhancing law enforcement and customs capability through port security improvements, and intelligence operations with regional and international partners. It also called for stronger anti-corruption measures to be implemented along with the strengthening of its legislation relating to drug trafficking sentencing, to make it less attractive.
