Wanted Guyanese drug dealer arrested at Latour

The Police Force Suriname (KPS) on Friday arrested a Guyanese drug dealer in Paramaribo. Police Chief Guno Roosenhoff confirmed the reports. The suspect, Barry Dataram, was arrested at Latour by the A Team being handed over to the Capital Offences Division. Roosenhoff did not divulge any details as this could compromise the investigation. According to kaieteurnewsonline, Dataram and his wife, Anjanie Boodnarine, who were out on bail fled Guyana last month pending a court decision regarding their alleged involvement in cocaine trafficking. Dataram was sentenced to a 60-month jail term by City Magistrate Judy Latchman while his wife and two co-defendants, Trevor Gouveia and Komal Charran, were freed. They were caught with 129.23kg of cocaine at a home in Diamond, East Bank Demerara on April 16, 2015.

Dataram and his wife had moved to the High Court and were granted $4 million pretrial bail.

In addition to the 60-month jail term, Dataram was also fined $164M for cocaine possession.

Dataram,

a

Guyana-born American, had successfully fought off previous efforts to extradite him to the United States of America to face drug smuggling charges.

It was believed that for the past weeks, Dataram and his wife were hiding in Suriname. Local law enforcement authorities had confirmed that the man had travelled out of Guyana on false documents. He had somehow got wind that he would be found guilty and jailed.

The authorities were, however, unsure whether his reputed wife had travelled with him.

A wanted bulletin was issued for both Dataram and his wife, although she had been freed.

On the day of their arrest last year at Diamond, ranks from the Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) swooped down on the house and conducted a search in the presence of the defendants. During the search they unearthed the illicit drug. Reports indicated that some of the cocaine was stuffed in frozen seafood, while the remainder was found to be bricks of raw coke. Meanwhile, Guyanese authorities are highly interested in the passports used by Dataram and his wife and how they managed to acquire them.