TSU ranks now detained under open arrest – Chief Crime Officer

150 guns missing

… Testing, further investigation ongoing

The investigation into the more than 150 guns found missing from the possession of Guyana Police (GPF) during last year’s investigation continues even as ranks arrested last year remain openly arrested .
This was confirmed when Guyana Times contacted Chief Crime Superintendent of Police Wendell Blanhum on Wednesday. Blanhum explained that while the investigation into the disappearance of the guns is ongoing, investigators are doing some additional work.

“The investigations are ongoing, but the auditors are conducting a further and more comprehensive investigation,” Blanhum explained, in a brief interview with this publication.
It was reported last year that six Tactical Special Unit (TSU) ranks were in custody over the disappearance of the weapons. When asked, Blanhum noted that the ranks are currently openly arrested and reporting to their senior officers.
“Open arrest, when the 72 hours ended, we usually lodge (the Police) at the TSU and we get them to report to the investigators whenever the need arises until the investigation has been completed complete, ”he said.
Last year’s investigation into the GPF revealed that more than 150 firearms had disappeared over the past few years during the former Government’s tenure. It is understood that these weapons were either confiscated from criminals and were supposed to be exhibits in proceedings, or were presented by private citizens.
Under the previous Government of National Unity Partnership / Alliance for Change (APNU / AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan – who served as Minister of Public Safety – had been given oversight of the GPF. Attempts to contact him on the matter have been futile.
In the past, guns that have gone missing from the hands of Joint Services have subsequently been linked to criminal activity. During the 2018 Commission of Investigation (CoI) into the Lindo Creek Massacre, it was revealed that several weapons and ammunition stolen in February 2006 were later used to commission various crimes.
The 2019 audit of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) is the last time an audit of Police operations has been conducted. That audit turned a pile of financial irregularities, and ultimately led to the removal of the then SOCU Head, Sydney James.
The probe triggered the operations of the white-collar crime fighting unit when former British adviser to SOCU, Dr Sam Sittlington, made a number of shocking allegations against the Unit.
Subsequently, James was subject to allegations of improper spending, as part of the investigation and investigation, which resulted from the termination of the British councilor’s services.
In February 2018, during his address at the opening of the Annual Police Officers Conference, President David Granger then called for an unpolluted Police. He had said that security sector reform, to which his administration was committed and working on its implementation, would seek to address this issue that plagues the country’s leading law enforcement agency. (G3)