SURINAME MAKING EFFORTS TO SECURE BORDER WITH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARAMARIBO 000391

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR LLUFTIG, INL/LP NBOZZOLO, KBROWN
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
CARACAS FOR LEGAAT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR KCRM PREL PGOV NS
SUBJECT: SURINAME MAKING EFFORTS TO SECURE BORDER WITH
GUYANA

PARAMARIBO 00000391 001.2 OF 002


REFTEL: (A) PARAMARIBO 382 (B) PARAMARIBO 223 (C)
PARAMARIBO 33 (D) PARAMARIBO 103


1. (SBU) Summary. Cross-border crime between Suriname and
Guyana has been on the rise over the past year. Drugs,
cash, goods, gold, arms, and people are smuggled across the
poorly controlled border regularly through what is called
the "back-track." This term generally refers to the
multiple routes available to cross the Corantijn River by
boat and enter either Suriname or Guyana at various
uncontrolled points along the riverbank to avoid customs or
immigration. In recognition of the problem, the Government
of Suriname (GOS) is developing a strategy to bring the
criminality under control to build upon recent successful
operations, including the recent arrest of Guyanese
criminal ringleader Shaheed Roger Khan. (See ref A).
Future success, though, will depend heavily on increased
resource availability and improved cooperation with
Guyanese counterparts. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Suriname's recent success in drug interdiction and
dismantling narcotics rings have driven criminal
organizations westward into Guyana, according to senior GOS
officials. Drug drops are made in Guyana, broken up into
smaller parcels, and then smuggled over the Corantijn River
into Suriname for overland transport to Paramaribo. There
is also an active arms-for-drugs trade across the border,
according to Suriname's Attorney General (See ref B),while
a recent government report revealed a doubling of drug
dealers in Nickerie over the last two years. The smuggling
of gold and cash is also reportedly on the rise.


3. (SBU) To stem the smuggling, the GOS has focused law
enforcement efforts on Guyanese-Surinamese criminal
connections over the past year. Its most significant
success to date was the June 15 arrest of Shaheed Roger
Khan, a major Guyanese narcotics trafficker with an
outstanding U.S. arrest warrant. Increased roadblocks
placed between Paramaribo and the border have led to
greater number of seizures and arrests, most recently the
May arrest of a Guyanese man in possession of four
kilograms of marijuana. Nickerie police seized a total of
108 kilograms of cocaine in 2005. In January, police seized
USD 391,000 from a Guyanese man attempting to board a boat
to Guyana after leaping from a helicopter that dropped him
on the bank of the Corantijn River. (See ref C). Police
also arrested a brothel owner in Nickerie on suspicion of
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in February. (See ref D).


4. (SBU) Police are heightening their cooperation with
their military counterparts stationed in Nickerie,
particularly the small marine contingent, to patrol the
river. For example, a marine patrol seized 3.5 kilograms
of marijuana from two Guyanese and a Surinamer crossing the
Corantijn River in March; the three suspects were
immediately turned over to police. Both sides, however,
remain hampered by insufficient marine resources. The
marine wing has only one boat permanently stationed in
Nickerie. Recent public complaints that Guyanese boat
patrols along the Corantijn River violate Suriname's
territorial sovereignty complicate efforts.


5. (U) To develop a long-term strategy to regulate the
"back-track," the GOS installed an interagency commission
of representatives from the district government, police,
military (including military police),and customs in 2005.
It is working in tandem with an interagency commission
tasked with reviewing Suriname's immigration policy. By
June 29, the commissions are expected to give
recommendations to Minister of Justice and Police
Chandrikapersad Santokhi, who has been very outspoken on
the need for increased border security.


6. (SBU) Possible recommendations include the establishment
of an official point-of-entry closer to the town of Nieuw
Nickerie staffed with military police, customs, and
civilian police. The current entry point lies roughly 45
kilometers south of the district's population center on a
poor unpaved, at time almost impassable, road at a ferry

PARAMARIBO 00000391 002.2 OF 002


landing. Almost all border crossers bypass this out-of-
the-way stop and take small boats directly to spots along
the riverbank closer to town as part of the "back-track."
The commission is also looking at ways to structure the
entry and immigration procedures and to develop a boat
registration system.


7. (U) In the context of the commission's work, Minister of
Foreign Affairs Lygia Kraag-Keteldijk visited the border in
May for a personal look at the "back-track." She said her
Ministry was working to improve control over the border by
developing a comprehensive visa policy for those frequently
traveling back and forth across the border as currently
very few border crossers possess visas.

BARNES