This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000112 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2016 
TAGS: SNAR PINR PINS PGOV KCRM KCOR NS GY
SUBJECT: SHAHEED "ROGER" KHAN: GUYANA'S OWN ESCOBAR? 
 
REF: A. PARAMARIBO 39 
     ¶B. 05 GEORGETOWN 1253 
     ¶C. 05 GEORGETOWN 1122 
     ¶D. 04 GEORGETOWN 426 
     ¶E. 04 GEORGETOWN 29 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Roland W. Bullen 
for reason 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (S) SUMMARY.  Shaheed "Roger" Khan (DOB: 13-Jan-72), 
Guyana's number one narco-criminal, threatens to exert 
control over the fragile Guyanese state akin to Pablo 
Escobar's erstwhile control over Colombia.  Khan is presently 
active in drug trafficking, money laundering, and arms 
smuggling.  His so-called legitimate economic interests 
include construction and forestry.  Vermont has an 
outstanding warrant for Khan's arrest on weapons charges. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
Narcotics 
--------- 
¶2. (S) Khan is believed to be Guyana's leading drug 
trafficker, more powerful than other established players such 
as Clay Hutson, Ricardo Rodrigues, and Brahma Nandalall.  He 
established connections with Colombian criminals a few years 
ago and has since become a major trafficker of cocaine from 
Colombia.  Khan has risen to the top of Guyana's 
narco-criminal class quickly and ostentatiously.  His 
Colombian associates scolded him in September 2004 for his 
indiscriminate activities and advised him to get out of the 
spotlight. 
 
¶3. (S) DEA developed a plan in 2004 to establish a 
counternarcotics operation in Guyana.  An informant leaked 
details about the plan.  After the leak, Khan threatened to 
blow up the site of the operation and threatened the lives of 
Ambassador and the then RSO (Ref D).  These threats forced 
the operation's abandonment. 
 
¶4. (S) Khan surrounds himself with a coterie of former police 
tactical squad members for security.  He reportedly pays his 
low-level security personnel USD 1,600 per month -- at least 
eight times what they previously earned with the police force. 
 
Phantom Squad and Bouterse Connections 
-------------------------------------- 
¶5. (C) Khan was a principle in the "Phantom Squad" (aka death 
squad) that former Minister of Home Affairs Gajraj employed 
to crack down on crime from 2002 to 2004 (Ref E). 
 
¶6. (S) Minister of Home Affairs told us Khan regularly 
travels to Suriname and Trinidad and meets with Desi 
Bouterse.  According to RNAS, Khan and Bouterse met at a 
hotel in Suriname as recently as December 2005. 
 
Arms Smuggling 
-------------- 
¶7. (S/NF) According to RNAS, Khan has been active in 
smuggling arms into Guyana from Suriname, French Guyana, and 
possibly France.  He exchanges cocaine for the arms.  Khan 
has also established connections with FARC and has acted as a 
middleman in cocaine for arms transactions.  In such 
instances, Khan has smuggled guns into Guyana and then 
exchanged them with the FARC for cocaine.  There are strong 
indications that Khan was deeply involved in a December 2005 
shipment of weapons to FARC in Columbia. 
 
Money Laundering and other Economic Interests 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶8. (S) Khan has a business relationship with Farouk Razac of 
Swiss House Cambio, a big money laundering operation, to 
launder his narco-trafficking proceeds.  According to RNAS, 
Khan's drug proceeds have also funded mosques and sent 
Muslims to study abroad. 
 
¶9. (U) Khan acquired Kaow Island in the Essequibo River from 
local entrepreneur and suspected drug dealer Harry Rambarran 
in February 2005.  Once owned by the now bankrupt Willems 
Timber, Kaow Island has a wharf for ocean going vessels, an 
airstrip, access to Guyana's bush roads that radiate out from 
Bartica, and a 136,000-acre timber concession.  In September 
2005, Rambarran sued Khan for defaulting on a USD 1.1 million 
promissory note made in partial payment for the island. 
 
¶10. (C) Khan is reportedly in negotiations with former 
GUYSUCO Chairman Vic Oditt to purchase a 200 square mile 
ranch at Pirara in the Southern Rupununi region.  The ranch 
has a large airstrip, and Khan is believed to be acting at 
the behest of Colombian or Panamanian narco-interests. 
 
¶11. (U)  In late 2005 the Guyana Forestry Commission granted 
a State Forest Exploratory Permit for a large tract of land 
in Guyana's interior to Aurelius Inc., a company controlled 
by Khan (Ref C). 
 
¶12. (U) Khan is a director of Classic Development Inc. and 
Dream Works Developers, both construction concerns.  Khan is 
financing several real estate projects, including a 60-70 
unit housing unit development in East Bank Demerara near the 
new stadium under construction for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. 
 
¶13. (C) Guyanese Bank executives tell us all this is being 
done without any bank financing. 
 
Run-ins with the Law 
-------------------- 
¶14. (U) According to LEGATT/Port of Spain, Khan is wanted in 
Vermont on weapons charges.  Vermont has not sought Khan's 
extradition. 
 
¶15. (U) Khan and two other men, one an active duty policeman, 
were arrested at a Guyana Defence Force roadblock in December 
2002 at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara in a bulletproof 
vehicle.  The vehicle contained sophisticated cell phone 
intercept equipment, satellite phones, and high-powered 
weapons.  All three were found not guilty of illegal 
possession of arms and ammunition charges. 
 
¶16. (C) A senior functionary in the Office of the President 
told us that the communications equipment and weapons were 
handed back over to Khan.  Our interlocutor said the arrest 
had been "a mistake" because Khan was "working with the 
police" when the arrest was made. 
 
¶17. (U) According to local newspapers, Khan and a colleague 
appeared in court January 4, 2006 on charges of "wounding" 
following an incident in which an individual was assaulted 
and had a gun placed to his head.  Both pled not guilty and 
were released on GYD 15,000 (USD 75) bail. 
 
Political Influence 
------------------- 
¶18. (C) Khan has bought off countless people in Guyana. 
Through this patronage he is able to operate with impunity. 
It is believed that GoG is compromised to such an extent that 
it will not pursue Khan, despite paying lip service to the 
fight against narco-trafficking. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶19. (C) Multiple sources have expressed fears to Ambassador 
that not only has Khan penetrated almost every level of 
Guyanese government and society, but that he will exert ever 
greater influence over the political scene beginning with 
this year's elections.  Most respected commentators believe 
that Guyana has already become or is well on the way to being 
a narco-state.  If Guyana is a narco-state, then Khan is its 
leader.  Ambassador has spoken with GoG to little avail about 
Khan's drug activities and unaccounted wealth.  The GoG has 
adopted a head-in-the-sand approach to Khan and 
narco-trafficking in general.  The GoG asks for hard evidence 
and pretends not to know how Khan acquires his means.  END 
COMMENT. 
BULLEN