James Singh said he was surprised at the decision taken by the government. He said he was notified by the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan.
Singh was successful in the interception of major drug busts in Guyana over the years.One of his success stories was the arrest and sequence sentence of the notorious drug dealer, Barry Dataram. He also provided Intel that found a plane at the airstrip in the interior, under his watch, CANU was able to discover a Semi-submersible Submarine and he had numerous seizures on vessels in the Caribbean. Singh said another one of his high points was his close collaboration with the private sector.
Singh was sacked by the David Granger administration days after a Commission of Inquiry report into a Vessel was completed and its recommendations handed over to the President.
Bruce Lovell, lead commissioner was tasked to look into the circumstances surrounding the entry into the interception, detention and subsequent release of an unnamed private maritime vessel in the sea space of the territory of Guyana, on or between the 11th-14th of February, 2017 and to report the findings and recommendations to His Excellence Brigadier David Granger.
Two days after that vessel was released, another vessel with four Guyanese were busted with 4.2tons of cocaine by US and Trinidadian coast guards.
Khemraj Ramjattan Minister of Public Security who has responsibility for the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), in a statement, said he directed that Mr. James Singh, head of CANU, should proceed on the remainder of his accumulated leave, whereupon he would be given notice of his termination of employ. All benefits consequent thereupon would also be granted to him.
The recent Commission of Inquiry headed by Mr. Bruce Lovell has made a number of recommendations, one of which is the restructuring of the Unit. The decision also was taken that this Unit will come under the soon to be established National Anti-Narcotics Authority (NANA).
In a scenario where very complex and difficult decisions have to be made, there is the need for some amount of reconfiguration and restructuring.
Mr. Singh has been at the Unit for nine years and I hope to engage him on alternative placement options. I have thanked him for his leadership and all the support he has given to the Unit the statement said.