More than three years after he was removed from office, James Singh has returned as the Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU).
Stabroek News was reliably informed that Singh was recalled to the post effective from yesterday by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is responsible for the agency.
In June 2017, Singh was officially notified of his removal from the post which had resulted from recommendations made by former President David Granger as well as a Commission of Inquiry (COI) conducted into the unit’s role in the interception and subsequent release of a cocaine-laden vessel.
On February 16th, 2017, four Guyanese men were intercepted by members of the US and Trinidad and Tobago coastguards in a boat in international waters, about 70 nautical miles north of Suriname, with over four tonnes of cocaine, estimated to be worth a street value of over US$71.7M aboard the vessel.
After the bust was made public, Singh had told Stabroek News that the vessel was last in Guyana in 2013.
Singh was subsequently asked to proceed on accumulated leave and on March 31, 2017, a COI was set up to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the entry into, the interception, detention and subsequent release of an unnamed private maritime vessel in the sea space of the territory of Guyana.
Its terms of reference included looking at the instructions issued to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard, the CANU and the role of any foreign law enforcement agencies in the conduct of the operation to intercept, detain and search the said vessel, and if the operation to intercept, detain and search the said vessel was approved by any superior authority in Guyana.
Before Singh was notified of his removal, he was sent on accumulated leave. The previous government had said that there was no link between Singh proceeding on leave and the probe.
