Former Commander of Region One (Barima-Waini) Senior Superintendent Himnauth Sawh is among four Guyanese nationals who have been sanctioned by the United States for drug trafficking.
The others are Paul Daby Jr, Mark Cromwell (a former policeman), and Randolph Duncan.
Sawh was serving as Police Commander of Region One (Barima-Waini), last September when some 4.4 tonnes of cocaine with a street value of over G$40.7 billion, were discovered hidden in several bunkers near an illegal airstrip at Matthew’s Ridge.
Meanwhile, Cromwell is also a former police officer who was fingered in an alleged abduction back in October 2024 and was charged for assaulting a cop the previous year.
The is the second time in the past year that OFAC has issued sanctions against Guyanese.
See full statement from the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control:
For decades, Guyana has been a transshipment point for the movement of drugs from South America to the United States and Europe.
Drug traffickers exploit the rivers and jungles of South America by transiting large quantities of cocaine, from Colombia and Venezuela, through the waters of Guyana and Suriname.
Guyana’s proximity to the Caribbean, as well as reported corruption along its ports and borders, allow maritime vessels, also known as narco-submarines, to transit through its waters undetected.
Traffickers utilize these vessels to smuggle cocaine from the ports of Guyana and Suriname, across the Atlantic, to the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.
Traffickers also coordinate the importation of cocaine loads from Colombia and Venezuela to Guyana via small aircraft, utilizing illegal airstrips in Guyana as landing spots.
Cocaine has been discovered buried in underground bunkers located on airstrips and in jungle territory, with Guyana’s Barima-Waini region as a prominent location.
Cocaine is then flown, via aircraft, to the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.
