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Guyana: the scourge of Brazilian gangs and cocaine trafficking
The fight against trafficking is at the heart of Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Guyana. The French department has become a hub for cocaine, a traffic in which ultra-violent Brazilian gangs are increasingly involved.
(France 2)
The fight against trafficking is at the heart of Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Guyana from Monday.
Launched at full speed into the mouth of the Mohury (Guyana), a Jaguar boat from the gendarmerie patrols the river. In its sights, illegal gold prospectors and drug traffickers. The soldiers, heavily armed, track down the slightest suspicious boat. The criminals move with the flow of water. “The canoes can hide in small creeks, they make small rivers in the forest. (…) They will come out, wait for the night, for high tide. It’s a game of cat and mouse”explains Warrant Officer Benjamin P., of the Guyana river gendarmerie brigade.
Increase in the number of homicides
Trafficking is infiltrated by Brazilian gangs, who are particularly dangerous. These armed gangs belong to well-identified factions in Brazil. Very powerful, they are trying to make Guyana their new playground. More than 200 individuals are already established in this territory. Some take action as part of settling scores linked to drug trafficking. Near Cayenne, the owner of a convenience store was executed by an individual of Brazilian nationality.
The total number of homicides in this context in Guyana is increasing sharply: 31 in 2021, 47 in 2022, 59 in 2023. According to the gendarmes, the Brazilian factions have recently diversified their activities, now trying to take control of “the entirety of organized crime”.
