CANU cleared of Barry Dataram’s allegations

Last Updated on Thursday, 21 July 2016, 17:40 by Denis Chabrol

elf-confessed drug lord, Barry Dataram’s allegations that the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU)‎ has been involved in facilitating drug trafficking instead of fighting it have. no merit, President David Granger said Thursday.

‎”I would say generally that Mr Barry Dataram:s allegations‎ are without foundation. The Commission did find other areas that require administrative attention,” he said on his weekly television programme, Public Interest.

The President was at the time responding to questions about the findings of a recent Commission of Inquiry into Dataram’s allegations.   That one-man probe was conducted by Retired Brigadier, Bruce Lovell after Dataram appeared on a private television station and levelled the charges against CANU.
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Granger said the recommendations include the ‎ need for greater coordination among the Customs and Trade Administration of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Guyana Police Force and CANU to address deficiencies and weaknesses.

National Anti-Narcotics Agency (NANA), an umbrella body with responsibility for the nationwide anti-narcotics programme involving the Customs and Trade Administration of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Guyana Police Force and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).
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‎”The Commission of Inquiry, therefore, pointed to the need for administrative changes to be made in the architecture of Guyana’s anti-narcotics programme‎,” he said.

Granger assured that ‎ “It’s not a witch-hunt and we are not looking to get any scalps. ‎”
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Government, he said, has agreed to publish Guyana’s National Drug Strategy Master Plan‎
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