Brazilian dredge owner shot dead by “foreign language” speakers

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 September 2017, 17:18 by Denis Chabrol

As Guyanese continue to probe reports of armed Venezuelans raiding mining camps and killing persons here, a Brazilian dredge owner is the latest person to have been shot dead.

“Investigations have so far revealed that between 17:45 hrs yesterday (Tuesday) and 02:00hrs this (Wednesday) morning a gang of about six to eight men, armed with rifles and handguns and speaking a foreign language, attacked the mining camp, bound the deceased along with several of his workers and ransacked the camp; after which the bandits escorted the deceased to his work-site where they removed an undisclosed amount of raw gold,” the Guyana Police Force said.

The Guyana Police Force said a team of police has been dispatched to a mining camp at Akaiwanna, Cuyuni, Region #7 to investigate the murder of dredge owner 36-year old Antonio Da Silva. Investigators said the Brazilian man’s body bore several suspected gunshot injuries.

Police were told that the bandits further took the deceased about 500 meters from the site and shot him several times and fled the area.

Da Silva’s body has since been removed to the Memorial Gardens Crematorium, awaiting a post-mortem.

In July, 2017 three Guyanese were shot dead at a mining camp in Venezuela near the border with Guyana. Earlier September, a Guyanese man shot dead at a mining camp by several persons believed to be Venezuelans.

The Guyana Defence Force and Guyana Police Force have in recent weeks mounted several joint patrols in the interior, but have not come into contact with any heavily armed groups.