VZCZCXRO6305
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHPO #0391/01 1721452
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211452Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8464
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHAO/AMCONSUL CURACAO 1048
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 1558
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1436
RUEHBR/USDAO BRASILIA BR
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

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