Joint Services haul in two-month accumulation of weapons, home-made wine, other illegal items

Last Updated on Saturday, 12 November 2016, 17:06 by Denis Chabrol

As part of heightened security activities to ensure domestic security, the Joint Services on Saturday conducted Operation Safe Guard at the Georgetown and New Amsterdam prisons and seized a large quantity of contraband items, the Ministry of the Presidency said.

At the Georgetown Prison 21 improvised weapons and knives, 20 razor blades, 558 grams of marijuana, 22 cellular phones and five gallons of homemade wine, along with a number of other banned items were found.  A lesser number of items were found at the New Amsterdam prison.  That operation was concluded at 11:30 am Saturday, November 12, 2016.

Of grave concern to the security forces is that the Georgetown Prison was last searched on September 23, 2016, which means that the contraband item haul accumulated in just under two months.  The Government will continue to work closely with the Guyana Prison Service and the Joint Services to address on-going security weaknesses at the nation’s correctional facilities.

The Guyana Police Force, along with the Joint Services where necessary, will continue to scale up security activities in targeted areas to ensure the security of residents and visitors across Guyana as the country enters the holiday season and in light of the up tick in criminal activity. The Government of Guyana continues to urge citizens to cooperate with the security forces.

Please find below a full list of items, which were confiscated at the Georgetown Prison:

22 cellular Phones

558 grams marijuana

9 packets cigarettes

8 cellular phone chargers

A quantity zip lock bags

45 lighters

A quantity of bamboo wrapper

A Quantity of wine

21 Weapons

4 cellular phone batteries

1 arrow

2 scissors

$300 GYD

$200 TT

4 grabber hooks

5 gallons of home made wine,

20 razor blades

5 sim cards

1 tattoo machine