Senegal has seized three containers of ammunition from a Guyana-flagged cargo ship in its capital Dakar, in a rare arms haul worth an estimated $5 million.
The incident, which was published in the Nigerian Guardian on January 18, 2022, stated that in a statement seen by Associated French Press, Senegal’s customs agency said it had searched a ship named the Eolika when it stopped to refuel after it had made “inconsistent declarations”.
Customs agents in the West African country later found the containers of ammunition aboard, the statement said.
The customs agency did not mention when the operation occurred. The crew members who local media identified as Ukrainians are currently being questioned.
In Guyana, the Guyana Police Force announced late Thursday night that an immediate investigation has been launched into the matter. While it was reported that ammunition was found, the GPF spoke about “a quantity of illegal arms and ammunition.”
The police informed that officials of the Guyana Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) have confirmed that the vessel in question was not registered by any “competent authority” in Guyana.
It added that local investigators are working with regional and international law enforcement agencies and has alerted the INTERPOL General Secretariat with the view to “informing all member states, to confirm the veracity of the weapons seizure and to assist in the questioning of one Suneil Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of a Company Inc. that is involved in the registration of motor vessels and with which MARAD had severed ties during last year.”
MARAD in its release on the matter said the vessel’s registration expired on December 10, 2021. It noted that the vessel is not in the local ships’ registry and it is believed that registration documents were issued by the International Maritime Safety Agency of Guyana (IMSAG), an entity with which the administration had severed all ties since August 13, 2021
