Guyana: the government announces “massive” reinforcements of police and customs officers – Le Figaro

Against a backdrop of great poverty, the South American department holds the record for the highest number of homicides per capita in France. The government announced on Friday the dispatch of “massive” police and customs reinforcements to Guyana to stem the violence. chronicle which affects the overseas territory, largely linked to arms and narcotics trafficking or illegal gold panning. Darmanin, and Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti have all three promised Cayenne to beef up staff and resources to curb the “scourge” of crime. Against a backdrop of great poverty, the South American department holds the record for the largest number of homicides per inhabitant in France, despite a massive police presence. Since the beginning of the year, 30 homicides have occurred in this territory of 300,000 inhabitants. 2016 and 2021, against 1.2 on the national average, On the fight against drug trafficking, Gabriel Attal announced an increase in customs staff at Cayenne airport “with a doubling of the current 27 agents”. “Ten additional officers will be recruited by the end of 2023” and “an additional team of dog handlers will be assigned to the airport by April”, he promised. This reinforcement will bring the number of canine teams to four. The installation of “a container scanner for the port and (of) a baggage scanner at the airport” were also announced by Gabriel Attal. “The device has already been delivered to the port of Cayenne and will be operational in the coming weeks.” Guyana is one of the hubs of cocaine trafficking between South America and France. Every day, dozens of “mules” board the daily flights to Paris, loaded with “balls” or “eggs” of white powder that they hide or ingest. New brigades In order to strengthen the fight against the gangs who are raging in Guyana, Gérald Darmanin announced the creation “in the year” of 150 police and gendarme posts. “A branch (of police officers from the) Raid will be created in Cayenne in the first half of 2023” and the squadron of mobile gendarmerie which arrived on September 7 as reinforcement “will be made permanent”, he detailed. To this squadron will be added ” four new gendarmerie brigades: two river brigades for the Maroni and the Oyapock and two road ones”, he continued. These brigades “will be installed as soon as Guyana has premises to accommodate them”. Finally, against drug trafficking, 18 gendarmes and 7 investigators from the Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast) will arrive as reinforcements, while 50 additional police and installed at the airport “so that 100% of flights are checked”. “Today, (only) one flight out of three is”, conceded the minister, whose services also promised an investment of “one million euros per year” in video protection. With 49 police officers and gendarmes for 10,000 inhabitants against 34 in mainland France, according to figures from the prefecture, Guyana is already largely equipped with law enforcement. emergency”, with “four magistrates of the seat, three magistrates of the parquet floor and three new clerks”, in order to relieve the local justice services, which are crumbling under the procedures. He also promised the arrival of five contract workers “in the coming days”, before the creation of five new magistrate posts next September. To read also The figures of hyper violence in the Antilles and in Guyana On the eve of the visit of the ministers, the general prosecutor of Cayenne Joël Sollier announced the f in a controversial experiment. Since July 1, the prosecution has classified seizures of less than 1.5 kg of cocaine without further action, to “reduce the burden” that trafficking places on its activity. Local elected officials and NGOs had deplored an uncoordinated and “inappropriate” initiative.