Arms bust: Guyanese perils amid unknowns

THE 592 GUARDIAN| OPINION| GTOWN GUYANA JUNE 2026

Arms bust: Guyanese perils amid unknowns

BY:GHK LALL
It’s a ton of guns.  Twenty-three machine guns and over 500 rounds seized from a vehicle with a Venezuelan driver represent some serious tonnage.  The quantity and type of guns (AK-47) make them a frightening proposition.  Throw in over 500 rounds of ammo, and somebody was readying for a war.  The Venezuelan component makes the seizure even more ominous.  I am hoping that the intelligence has it right with that across-the-border connection.  While that may be so, what to think of one man with 23 machineguns notorious for their killing power language?  He may be superman.  He was certainly daring to drive around with that stash that fills up a passenger vehicle.  But he alone is not capable of using all those weapons simultaneously.

 So far, I have been accepting at face value a Venezuelan connection of some sort, and going along.  But what if it is really not so?  What if there are a few Guyanese hands in the mix?  The Regent Street gas station bombing had a Venezuelan as the number one accused.  There were, however, a couple of Guyanese in supporting roles.  Is the same program in action here?  And, if (a big if) Guyanese are involved in this big gun bust, are they of the market garden variety?  In other words, run-of-the-mill, street corner, citizens of this republic.

I think that it is a reasonable place, fair questions.  How can it not be, when Guyanese inhabit an environment that is trapped in secrets?  And, when so many pieces of information (if any) that come from public institutions are made up of more secrets.  And, when the Guyanese people, having been fed so many deceptions by their own folk, absorb what may be the whole truth, but cannot bring themselves to believe that what they are getting is only part of the story, a half-truth.  By definition, there’s no such animal as a half-truth; and, if that is considered, it’s really a disguised lie.

Time to zero in some more on this insinuated Caracas connection.  First, the lead accused in the Regent Street gas station bombing, a Venezuelan, admitted to the crime, only to reverse himself in court.  What to make of that mystery development?  I recommend that Guyanese watch out for some report of one of those cellblock suicides by hanging.  The issue, then, would be whether that was by his own hand, or that of those helping along, accelerating his departure.  Second, some Venezuelans are struggling to make it here, for different reasons.  To be in such a situation makes a man desperate; especially when he has debts here, and a family across the border.  A desperate man will grab at any opportunity that offers a quick, sweet, payoff for a couple hours of work. 

Especially, if it comes with assurances of there being no loose ends, and everything is under control.  Recall those instances that became public and involved drug mules recruited to do some transportation for a nice piece of change.  They take that chance, when the odds of getting past watching eyes are high.  Third, I have some difficulty believing that Caracas is so unsophisticated, so reckless, as to put 23 machineguns all in one bag and in only one operator’s hands.  When something is too good to be true, it usually isn’t.  Couple that to a thoroughly untrustworthy regime, with willing and powerfully-placed supporting players, and my interpretation is that Guyanese are in a terrible place.

The concern for me is that there are these seizures of machineguns-10 in Berbice recently and now 23 across the Demerara River close to each other, who are the real people behind these gun busts?  And, where is all of this leading, towards —what objective(s)?  The latest is two others, one with a Guyanese sounding name, now in police custody.  What does that say?  Confirmation of who’s who could still be long in coming.  And, when all is said and done, Guyanese are in a dangerous place.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 592 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙂𝙪𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙘, 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙨.