Guyana’s Head of Major Crimes Unit held and questioned in US

Superintendent Mitchell Caesar, the head of the Guyana’s Major Crimes Unit, who is a senior officer within the ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), is said to have been detained and questioned at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, by US Law Enforcement authorities.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo confirmed the same during a weekly news conference which he was attending on Thursday. In a statement on the matter, Jagdeo stated the following, “From what I gather, a report was made to the superior officer or the senior officer of that policeman so that will engage the leadership of the police force and that’s where the matter will be dealt with.”

He also added that, “Personally, I did not seek to find out what it related to because that should be dealt with by the police force.”

Following his statement, Mark Ramotar, the Director of the Guyana Police Force’s Corporate Communications Department, give his views on Caesar’s detention and questioning, “What I can confirm is that Mr Caesar is currently on vacation leave in the US.”

Jagdeo also told reporters that the United States has policies in place which ensure that their authorities do not shared immigration related information with the government of Guyana, which has made it harder to ascertain the details of this fiasco.

He went on to add that, “If there is any criminality on the part of anyone in government, then once the information is shared with us formally by the US government, there will be action taken against people.”

Reports suggest that Caesar was in India for a training exercise before he travelled to New York on his way to Guyana.

This particular case harks back to another incident involving Mae Toussaint Jr Thomas-Meerabux, who was the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs at that time, who had her US visa revoked at the Miami International Airport, while she was transiting to China.

That incident raised several questions about the intentions of United States authorities, which have cropped up once more with the detention of Caesar.

In the case of Guyana’s Major Crimes Unit, the United States forced her into a situation where by she had to return to Guyana via the United Kingdom.