OPINION: Minister Benn on the drug trade, then the contradictions

Last Updated on Friday, 31 January 2025, 16:19 by Writer

By GHK Lall

Most times that I seek some truth and clarity in government, I cast my eyes on the Hon. Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Robeson Benn. Some of the time, he has disappointed, became too much like his leaders and cabinet colleagues. I make allowance for human frailty; recognize the supremacy of political loyalty; and learn to live with what lowers others in national estimations. Minister Benn disappointed with his timely blocking of Top Cop Clifton Hicken from sharing how the Guyana Police Force (GPF) conducts its business for the benefit of the Guyanese people. He had a chance to shine but put himself in a bind. Take the serious matter of the drug trade in Guyana (“Drug trade putting tremendous strain on the security forces – Minister Benn”, KN, January 28, 2025).

“We are not the marketplace for the drugs. We are transit points, and the fact that the drug trafficking activity and the criminality bring tremendous pressures in relation to the security sphere. We will continue to fight. We’re putting more money into this effort, and we are working at continuing to bring down the planes and to make the necessary seizures to deal with this nefarious business.” Hear Minister Benn, all Guyana. I hear him, and because there is reluctance to go against a sitting minister, especially one of the singular standings of Mr. Robeson Benn, I proceed gingerly. There is something in his words that clashes with what the GPF has put out about the decline in serious crimes. I quote again: “drug trafficking activity and the criminality bring tremendous pressures in relation to the security sphere.” I congratulate Minister Benn for sounding like a BBC presenter with an Oxbridge background. But there is a problem Mr. Minister. Drug trafficking activity attracts a cast of thousands, like one of those old MGM productions. Lots of related crimes, lots of hands involved, and just by association. Aiding and abetting, and consorting with and giving comfort to felons, known and unknown.

The Home Affairs man spoke of “tremendous pressures” on the local law enforcement machinery. Yet, there is the contradiction coming out of his own GPF that serious crimes have declined by 12.2%. Commendations are due, and I give them. But for what? I am scratching my head. Anything and everything that is associated with the drug business, as the Hon minister knows well, are rarely categorized as misdemeanors. I am not talking about a sniff of marijuana, but a drug trade involving hard drugs, designer drugs, and destructive drugs. Yeah, yeah, I hear the minister about “we are not the marketplace for drugs” and respectfully inquire, by what strain in his imagination did he get the “we” in that sentence? I recommend that Minister Benn takes a walk through (no politicking) Guyana’s villages, hamlets, squatting areas, ghettoes (sorry, depressed areas), and hinterland communities, and decide for himself how much longer he is going to maintain that charade about “we are not the marketplace.” Should he visit the upscale drinking establishments, he is sure to come across some friends (or their children, some underage) having a jolly good time with the expensive powder and pills. I wish that I could lend a supporting shoulder to Minister Benn, but his representations are like Boss Bharrat’s: clumsy, cute, and crawling with cobras. Guyanese are the ones that get poisoned and, in more ways than they realize.

I venture to state that the GPF has its troubles relative to the drug trade. It is more than a lack of interdiction. It’s a matter of connection. Two words are uttered: Matthews Ridge. When the national policing apparatus is locked out of those proceedings, then I think that some crimes had already happened, and there is no mystery as to where, how high, and how many. The drug trade by itself is an opulent commercial enterprise, with galleons of workers. Even when passing through a place, it leaves a wide trail of criminal devastation. So, when Minister Benn puts his best foot forward about what is going here re “not the marketplace” and “transit points” he must be thanked for his adventurousness and boldness. Those would be inspiring under normal circumstances. But Guyana is dealing with the abnormal in the drug trade for a long time now. Whatever cleverness the GPF came up with in its definition and categorization of “serious crimes” somebody over there was not serious. The drug trade by itself, any aspect of it, is more than a crime wave, for those coming and going. The drug trade is a season that has no end, other than being hotter on some days and windless on others. If I am really to remove the white gloves, it would lead to the ruff place where courtesy departs, and acrimony arrives. To say that serious crimes were down by 12.2% is by itself a crime with its own extraordinary bloodline.