Newly appointed Home Affairs Minister, Oneidge Walrond, on Wednesday signalled her intent to push law enforcement agencies to step up prosecutions in criminal and drug trafficking cases, even as she acknowledged that intelligence-led investigations often take time to yield results.
Speaking during her first interaction with the media since assuming office, Walrond was pressed on crime and narcotics trafficking in Guyana. She admitted to being particularly concerned about the level of prosecutions and whether the enforcement of the law is truly deterring offenders.
“My concern, as a former magistrate, is how many of these cases have been prosecuted. What is the follow-through? Because criminals are not going to respond if they are not seeing the full enforcement of the law,” Walrond said.
She questioned how many cases have reached the courts and, more importantly, how many have gone to “full fruition.” The Minister disclosed that she has already started discussions with the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and intends to continue those talks to better understand the scope of drug trafficking in the country.
Guyana remains a known transit hub for narcotics smuggling across Latin America and the Caribbean. Walrond noted that her background as a magistrate has given her insight into how complex prosecutions can be, especially when targeting major traffickers.
“It takes a lot more intelligence work to get to the bigger fish. That’s not easy, because they are rarely caught in possession of the drugs. Sometimes it takes years of careful policing and intelligence-gathering to build a case strong enough to secure a successful prosecution,” she explained.
Despite the challenges, Walrond expressed confidence in the commitment of the police and CANU, pointing to their track record of removing marijuana and cocaine from the streets. She vowed, however, to push the agencies under her leadership to pursue more prosecutions and get closer to the sources of illicit drug networks.
Corruption within law enforcement was also raised with the Minister, who said the government is making significant investments to eliminate bias and close loopholes.
“The issue of corruption in any agency has to be dealt with carefully. Sometimes the system is so lax that just tightening it can eliminate those weaknesses. That’s why we are investing heavily in digitising services—removing the human element is one of the ways to address this problem,” Walrond said.
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