INTERAGENCY EFFORT TO APPREHEND GUYANESE

C O N F I D E N T I A L GEORGETOWN 000424

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

WHA/CAR
INL/LP
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE - PPETTY
CARACAS FOR DAO AND LEGATT
PORT OF SPAIN FOR DEA AND LEGATT
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2016
TAGS: SNAR PREL PINS KCRM GY NS
SUBJECT: INTERAGENCY EFFORT TO APPREHEND GUYANESE
NARCO-CRIMINALS

REF: A. PARAMARIBO 259

B. PARAMARIBO 39

C. GEORGETOWN 112

D. GEORGETOWN 278

Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Roland W. Bullen
For reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. Ambassador met April 20 in Port of Spain
with Ambassador to Suriname Marsha E. Barnes and officials
from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),Department of
Homeland Security (DHS),Department of Justice (DOJ),and
Embassies Georgetown and Paramaribo. The meeting
accomplished two goals: a) DHS and DOJ briefed Ambassadors on
the status of criminal cases against Guyana's most wanted
narco-traffickers; and b) Ambassadors charted a course of
action aimed at getting these narco-criminals into U.S.
custody as expeditiously as possible. END SUMMARY

--------------
Background
--------------


2. (C) Shaheed "Roger" Khan is Guyana's number one
narco-trafficker, but the threat he poses to U.S. national
interests extends much further than just drug smuggling (ref
C). He has brokered drugs-for-guns deals, sending weapons to
the FARC for cocaine. He is reported to have social and
operational links to Desi Bouterse, former Surinamese
strong-man, convicted narcotics trafficker, and possible
coup-plotter (ref B). Khan was a driving force behind the
"Phantom Squad" that carried out extra-judicial killings with
impunity in Guyana in 2002-03. Currently, he is trying to
use secretly taped conversations of Guyana's police chief to
engineer a shake-up in the police leadership (ref D). In
short, Khan is no longer just a prominent cocaine smuggler -
he threatens the internal security of Guyana and others in
the region.

-------------- --------------
Strong Case against Khan and other Guyanese Narco-Criminals
-------------- --------------


3. (C) The DHS officials outlined their long investigations
of Guyana-New York cocaine smuggling rings, confirming that
thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Guyana (originating
from Colombia and Venezuela) have been imported into the U.S.
in recent years. A common thread running through these
investigations is that Khan, along with his accomplice Clay
Hutson, are the primary sources of cocaine from Guyana. The
Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) handling these cases believes
that the evidence against Khan and Hutson is now strong
enough to move forward with charges against them for
conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S., adding "if we get
them, we will convict them".


4. (C) Once indicted, DOJ intends to seek the extradition of
Khan and the others. The GOG has no track record to speak of
in fulfilling extradition requests. In fact, the GOG
effectively rebuffed a 2003 extradition request for many of
these same individuals because the Attorney General insisted
that the relevant witnesses come to Guyana in order to
proceed. This was a preposterous condition given the
justified fear these witnesses felt about returning to
Guyana. Ideally, the GOG will be more cooperative this time
around and realize that harboring these narco-criminals is
self-destructive. DOJ will seek to submit confidential
affidavits in support of the extradition requests rather than
bring witnesses to Guyana. Unfortunately, extradition
remains an untested route, so the Ambassadors have explored
alternative methods for getting the prospective indictees
into custody.

--------------
Suriname Alternative
--------------


5. (C) Ambassadors also met privately with their RSOs, DEA,
and the AUSA to determine how best to get Khan and the other
prospective indictees into U.S. custody. The top priority is
to locate Khan, who has gone to ground since March 2006
army/police raids on his properties in Guyana (ref D).
(Note: One of the prospective indictees was arrested in
connection with these raids.) Khan is believed to travel to
Suriname regularly - entering illegally - where, surrounded
by his henchmen, he feels relatively at ease and consorts
with Bouterse. Embassy Paramaribo has learned from police
intelligence that Khan has crossed into Suriname twice in the
past month by helicopter for meetings along the Corintijn
River, returning the same day.


6. (C) Ambassadors agreed that the GOS might have greater
interest in resolving the Khan problem and expelling him
rather than allow him to remain in Suriname as an outlaw and
potentially destabilizing force. Because of this, Ambassador
Barnes agreed, once advised that individuals have been
indicted, to first approach the GOS at the highest levels
before Ambassador Bullen approaches the GOG - which she has
since done (ref A).

--------------
Plan for Guyana
--------------


7. (C) Once the extradition paperwork has been prepared, and
after Ambassador Barnes has gauged GOS support on this issue,
Ambassador Bullen will approach President Jagdeo to give him
advanced warning of the imminent requests. Post believes the
next two months provide auspicious timing to convince Jagdeo
to assist in locating and handing over these narco-criminals.
National elections are anticipated in September. Guyana's
deteriorating security situation means that Jagdeo's PPP
party is extremely vulnerable to this issue on the campaign
trail. These extradition requests will offer a tailor-made
chance for Jagdeo to back up his anti-drug trafficking
rhetoric with deeds. If he does not cooperate, then word of
the requests is likely leak out, causing him and his party
great embarrassment in Guyana.


8. (U) This cable was cleared by Embassy Paramaribo.
Bullen