Union Island shoot-out – Illegal smuggling

Fri, Jun 22. 2012

Editor: I am saddened by the loss of life in the shoot-out in Union Island and worry that it could happen in Bequia too; yes, money is the oxygen of serious crime, but as long as the government permits the illegal importation of Venezuelan fuel from ill-equipped fishing boats, the temptation must also exist for these unscrupulous individuals to import drugs and weapons too.{{more}}

I have to applaud Major Leacock for speaking out and making significant comments in one of the local newspapers this week. I do believe there is a lot more left unsaid about the shoot-out in Union Island.

We should be very thankful that an alert Customs Officer and Police official were patrolling on a boat at the right time and became suspicious enough to investigate, but the price was high to keep Union’s streets cleaner of cocaine and a fewer guns to take lives with.

I was distressed to read the section regarding Mr Whyte’s son Abdon, saying his father advocates for the ‘oil boats’ from Venezuela to bring fuel to the island. It is because of the Venezuelan fishing boats bringing diesel to St Vincent and the Grenadines that there is so much crime, bribery and corruption in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Like he said, at one point the Venezuelans diesel boats had stopped coming. Well, I am so sorry that Mr Whyte advocated for them to return, because he may have been alive today if they had stopped coming. This illegal diesel fuel import trade needs to be stopped.

Before the Venezuelans started bringing diesel to St Vincent and the Grenadines, there was not such greed. The diesel trade is like the drug trade. First of all, it is illegal diesel that is coming to out islands; it is smuggling plain and simple, and if these boats are carrying illicit fuel in unsuitable boats, why stop there; might as well smuggle a few bales of cocaine. How about some guns, etc?

Venezuelan fisherman are not allowed to fill up their boats with fuel for resale abroad; they are allocated sufficient fuel to take them to their fishing grounds and back only. So, how can they produce correct paperwork to be cleared into this country, never mind proper papers for importation of diesel fuel?

The documents that are presented to customs and immigration cannot be legitimate documents, the reason being, these fisherman are given a diesel fuel quota at hugely subsidized rates in Venezuela to go and fish in and around Venezuelan waters, but instead of low return/hard work fishing, they come to SVG minus any fish and sell the diesel (and anything else they thought to bring along) for big profit. Therefore, their documents cannot be valid, because the legal authorities in Venezuela do not know they are smuggling the diesel of the country and coming here to sell.

These fisherman are taking the risk coming to SVG and selling diesel and other contraband because of the among of money involved; they experience rough seas with a simple wooden fishing boat that was not designed to carry thousands of gallons of fuel or having any equipment to deal with possible spills or fires etc. SVG does not need this kind of business. Before the Venezuelan diesel, we were all buying the diesel from SOL or Texaco and all was fine.

But wait, there’s more; if now, as stated by the Venezuelan Ambassador that he is trying to stamp out smuggling from Venezuela, why does he not just ask the customs department to explain why they are legitimizing this trade by being present on board these fishing boats as they offload their fuel into passenger boats, cargo ships and bunker vessels to monitor the quantities offloaded and charge an importation “duty” for same? And why is the government happy to condone this illicit trade. I’m certain if he (the Venezuelan Ambassador) were to inspect the papers presented by these fishing boat operators, he would soon be in a position to put a stop to it.

Venezuelan diesel has long been smuggled into SVG harbours. I recall last year on Sunday, 13th February 2011 at 1:00 a.m., when a Venezuelan fishing/ diesel boat was offloading diesel in Admiralty Bay, Bequia; at that time of night the customs authorities are not working. However, on this occasion, the local business man involved was caught, a fine was levied and his diesel licence suspended. Only one year later, his diesel licence was reinstated; one will never know what more was offloaded that and other nights. Gasoline was sold to water taxi operators by this business man, which was imported by the same diesel boats, so this is not a yesterday game.

The government needs to realize that these fishing vessels are carrying not only diesel but drugs and a lot more that will never be declared. The elected powers that be really need to look deeply into this situation before more innocent people lose their lives.

Alejandro Baciano