Police commander with alcohol, cologne under investigation

THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is investigating the actions of Region Nine Police Commander, Superintendent Keithon King, in facilitating the movement of uncustomed alcohol. King was escorting 30 cases of Black Stone Whiskey and eight cases of cologne in a Police Force pick-up. It was stacked neatly and covered under a tarpaulin inside the pickup’s tray.  “The Guyana Police Force is aware of an incident which occurred on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, whereby officials of the Guyana Revenue Authority intercepted force motor vehicle PYY 2671 and found a quantity of suspected uncustomed alcohol. At the time of the interception, Police Regional Division Commander Nine and two other ranks were in the vehicle. Investigations into the incident are being conducted by the GRA,” Public Relations Officer, Assistant Commissioner Royston Andries-Junor said.

Reports indicate that the commander told investigators that the items in the pickup were not being smuggled.
He claimed that the liquor and the cologne are being sold right in Lethem, an area that borders with Brazil.
He explained that some of the supplies were also purchased for his staffers and family members, noting that some of the boxes even had name tags.
Assistant Commissioner, Andries-Junor, said the Divisional Commander was authorised to be out of his division since he was expected to attend the Annual Commissioner’s Breakfast on Wednesday.

In 2017, GRA launched a major project to stamp imported alcohol. The high-security bar-coded stamps are designed to reduce the leakage of an estimated $2B in taxes that Guyana loses annually from smuggled hard liquor and cigarettes.
Using a mobile scanner, enforcement officers could determine right away whether the taxes have been paid or attempts were made to forge the stamps.
With alcohol products attracting high duties, smugglers have been coming up with new strategies to continue their illegal trade.
GRA is estimating that smuggled alcohol is about 60-70 per cent of what is imported annually.