Last Updated on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, 22:03 by Writer
Police were Tuesday night greeted with a ring of fire that blocked them from searching the Vigilance, East Coast Demerara home of Mark “Demon” Cromwell as part of investigations into the whereabouts of two Surinamese men who went missing after they entered Guyana more than one month ago, police sources said.
A truck was also burnt during the fracas on the Vigilance Public Road.
Police said the house was a building of prime interest and so obtained a search warrant.
However, as they made efforts to search the building, police sources said they were blocked by persons in the village.
“The Police were attempting to execute a search warrant but were prevented from doing so,” a police officer with knowledge of the occurrence told Demerara Waves Online News but did not want to be named.
Investigators said they were interested in searching the building after 28-year-old Siegello Lorenzo Van Dalen of Moustachestraat #29, Saramacca and Koetaristraat 8, and 29-year-old Derryl Danillo Bont of Adolfstraat #9 Wanica were seen entering a car registered in the name of Mr Cromwell’s wife.
“They were last seen alive when they joined a white vehicle registered in his wife’s name,” a police source said.
Surinamese and Guyanese police said on September 19 that both men were reported missing after leaving their respective address on August 28 in a Toyota Vitz for Nickerie.
Police also said they were last seen on August 29 exiting that car in Clarasluis (Clara Sluice) in Nickerie to travel to Guyana by boat.
Police said Mr Cromwell’s wife and brother remained in police custody as part of the probe into the disappearance of the men.
Mr Cromwell, who is a former policeman, and senior police superintendent Himnauth Sawh were sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on June 5, 2025.
Sawh was the commander of Region One (Barima-Waini) when a joint Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit-Guyana Defence Force operation had unearthed 4.4 tonnes of cocaine near an illegal airstrip close to Mabaruma in September 2024.
Also sanctioned then were Guyanese Paul Daby, Jr and Randolph Duncan as well as two Colombians.
At the time of imposing the sanctions, the United States (U.S.) Treasury Department had alleged that the men were “responsible for trafficking tons of cocaine from South America to the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.”
The sanctions allegedly targeted drug traffickers utilising boats and narco-subs to traffic tonnes of cocaine, along with an alleged corrupt Guyanese law enforcement official.
The sanctions also target individuals that are operating covert airstrips to traffic drugs via aircraft, the Treasury Department also said.
None of the Guyanese has been charged locally with any offence and there has been no request for their extradition to the U.S. to face trial for alleged offences.
