After a suspected drug dealer was detained by police today close to the community of Buxton, Guyana, on the East Coast of the Demerara River, unrest broke out.
Residents protested against personnel of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), whom they charged with using live bullets indiscriminately while pursuing the suspect, by blocking the road, burning waste, and destroying property.
In response, the Ministry of Home Affairs acknowledged that police had fired shots, but it chose not to address claims that the officers had behaved arbitrarily.
The ministry reported that “warning shots were fired during the effort to stop the fleeing car, which ended up in a nearby trench.”
According to the ministry, demonstrators demanded that the suspect, who was allegedly found in possession of multiple bundles totaling 51.2 pounds of cannabis, be freed by the police.
The ministry said that the man’s capture by CANU was the result of a “intelligence-led operation.”
Firefighters and police officers have arrived and are clearing the streets.
The ministry continued by requesting that those who were “blocking roads and engaging in other criminal acts stop from this behavior.”