Drugs hidden in export logs

1 March 2013


Customs officers have arrested a fourth man at a sawmill in Guyana where a massive shipment of cocaine was found hidden in logs bound for Europe.

The local manager at the Soesdyke sawmill, a fork lift driver and a Dutch national were taken into custody on Tuesday.

Officers later detained a truck driver following reports that he assisted in the transport of the cocaine when 360kg of cocaine was discovered in hollowed-out timber. UK street value would be in excess of £14m, according to drug NGO extimates.

The fork lift operator is alleged to have packed the drug-filled logs. which were found in containers destined for the Netherlands.

The Guyana Revenue Authority said there were anomalies in the scanning of timber, leading officers to drill into one of the logs. Containers on the wharf were then checked again.