Guyanese fugitive drug kingpin caught in Suriname
PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) — Self-confessed Guyanese drug lord, Barry Dataram, was caught in Suriname Friday after police, acting on a tip-off raided a home in Latour, south of the capital where the fugitive was hiding.
Police said they had also detained his common-law wife, Anjanie Boodnarain.
The two had fled to the neighbouring Caribbean Community (Caricom) country last month after failing to appear in a court in Guyana on drug-related charges.
Dataram, his common-law wife, as well as Kevin Charran and Trevor Gouveia were before the court in Guyana for the alleged possession of 129.230 kilograms of cocaine (equivalent to 284 pounds) that was found on April 16, 2015 at house owned by Dataram.
But before the verdict was given, two captured fugitives skipped the country.
Dataram was convicted in his absence to a five-year jail term by a City Magistrate Judy Latchman while his wife and two co-defendants were acquitted.
He was also fined GUY$164,286,000 (One Guyana Dollar =US$0.008 cents) for possession of 129 kilo cocaine for the purpose of trafficking at his home.
Dataram is the second Guyanese fugitive drug lord that has been apprehended by Suriname police after they fled to the neighbouring country.
In 2006 Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan was arrested in Paramaribo and subsequently handed over to the US authorities. In 2009 Khan was sentenced to a 40-year jail term for drug trafficking and illegal arms possession by a federal judge in the United States.