Two major illegal weapons seizures in less than a month have put Guyana’s national security and border control systems under intense scrutiny, after a total of 33 US-manufactured AK-47 assault rifles were intercepted by law enforcement, with the cache traced to maritime smuggling through the country’s unmonitored wharves for transnational criminal gangs. The most recent bust occurred on the night of June 11, when officers recovered 23 rifles from a vehicle in Schoonard, on the West Bank of Demerara. The earlier seizure, in late May, netted 10 additional assault rifles in Berbice.
Senior security sector sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have confirmed that all weapons were shipped into the country via unsearched commercial maritime cargo, hidden inside barrels, crates and containerized vehicles that slipped past routine customs checks. The country currently lacks the specialized scanning technology required to detect hidden illegal weapons in incoming shipments, though officials note that the scanners have already been procured and are en route to Guyana.
Authorities have publicly released little information about the ongoing investigation. When contacted by Demerara Waves Online News for details on the motives behind the smuggling operation, Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond stated only that assessments are ongoing and the investigation remains active. Her advisor, former Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, declined to provide on-the-record comment, but acknowledged that the presence of unregulated high-powered firearms in the country is a constant cause for concern for all Guyanese people. “Guyanese always have to be concerned when guns are being pushed around,” Benn told the outlet.
Deputy Police Commissioner Wendell Blanhum, head of the Guyana Police Force’s Criminal Investigations Department, has previously confirmed that the 23 rifles seized in June were manufactured in the United States. Senior officials have not yet publicly confirmed the intended end users of the weapons, or whether the smuggling was tied to political motives, a plot targeting senior law enforcement figures, or large-scale arms trafficking. The anonymous source, however, outlined the most widely held working theory among investigators: the weapons were smuggled for Venezuelan gang operatives, who were set to move the cache across the border to accomplice networks.
Investigators believe the assault rifles are ultimately intended to protect illegal gold mining operations in the cross-border region, where gang activity has surged amid tightened firearms restrictions in Venezuela. When asked whether the notorious Venezuelan transnational gang Tren de Aragua is actively expanding its operations into western Guyana through this smuggling network, the senior official confirmed that investigators believe this to be the case.
Multiple arrests have been made in connection with the two seizures. A 28-year-old Venezuelan man, Jonathan Gans, who resides in Grove, East Bank Demerara, was taken into custody on the night of the June bust as he attempted to flee the Schoonard search site. A 40-year-old local businessman, Randy Jagdeo, surrendered to police on June 14 alongside his legal counsel after a wanted bulletin was issued for him and a third suspect, Orlando Gabriel. Three Guyanese nationals were also arrested following the May seizure in Berbice.
Guyana’s small opposition party, the Alliance For Change (AFC), has publicly criticized the ruling government for its decision to withhold key details of the investigation from the public. In a statement released Sunday evening, the AFC noted that while law enforcement’s success in intercepting the cache is a positive outcome, the smuggling attempt exposes major systemic gaps in the country’s border and import control frameworks. “The incident highlighted broader concerns about the movement and circulation of illegal firearms within the country,” the party said.
The AFC emphasized that Guyanese citizens have a right to full transparency about how the high-powered weapons entered the country, who facilitated the smuggling ring, and whether any regulatory or legal failures allowed the shipment to slip into the country. The party added that news of the 33-rifle cache has sent major alarm across the country over public safety, with many residents questioning how many more illegal weapons may have already entered circulation and fallen into the hands of criminal networks and unauthorized groups.