60-Second Script: “SOCU Raids Closed Building”

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Twenty SOCU officers and a sniffer dog raided Mohamed’s Enterprise on Lombard Street yesterday — a building that’s been closed since 2024.

They found less than two million dollars in cash and some documents. Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, who is US-sanctioned and facing extradition, says it’s political payback for his Parliament speech where he claimed he bankrolled the PPP with hundreds of millions.

Meanwhile, budget estimates revealed the government pays two US lobby firms a combined ninety thousand dollars a month — over a million dollars a year for advocacy services.

And in regional news, Barbados went to the polls yesterday with Mia Mottley’s BLP heavily favoured to win all thirty seats.

That’s your Daily Brief. Stay informed, Guyana.

[END — 60 SECONDS]

4-Minute Script: “The SOCU Raid, The Bankrolling Claims, And What It All Means”

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Good morning. Let’s break down the biggest story in Guyana today.

Yesterday, more than twenty officers from the Special Organised Crime Unit descended on Lombard Street in Georgetown. Their target: Mohamed’s Enterprise, the cambio and gold trading business owned by the family of Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed.

Here’s what makes this complicated. Mohamed’s Enterprise has been closed since 2024, when the US Treasury sanctioned the Mohamed family under the Global Magnitsky Act for alleged corruption and gold smuggling. A federal grand jury in Miami has indicted both Azruddin and his father Nazar on eleven counts including wire fraud, money laundering, and customs violations. They’re currently in extradition proceedings.

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So why raid a closed building? SOCU says they received credible intelligence about illegal financial activities. Mohamed says the raid is retaliation for what he said in Parliament last Friday — that he bankrolled the PPP with hundreds of millions of dollars, and that the money is sitting at Freedom House.

He told the search party, quote: “All the money I give PPP deh at Freedom House. Go there and search.”

The PPP has said… nothing. Vice President Jagdeo’s phone went to voicemail. President Ali’s phone went to voicemail. Freedom House is silent.

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Now here’s the second story that got buried under all the SOCU drama. During budget estimates on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Hugh Todd confirmed that the government pays two American lobby firms a combined US$90,000 per month. That’s over a million US dollars a year for “advocacy services.”

One firm gets fifty thousand a month. Another gets four thousand. WIN parliamentarian Tabitha Sarabo-Haley asked whether the firms had anything to do with extradition matters. Todd said no — they highlight national development initiatives.

A million dollars a year to tell Washington how well Guyana is doing. Make of that what you will.

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In other news: GuySuCo says it’s on track for profitability by 2030. The government is finalising acquisition of the Berbice Bridge. Thirty students were caught skipping school in a city sweep. And a nineteen-year-old was arrested for the fatal stabbing of a tourist guide.

Regionally, Barbados went to the polls yesterday with Mia Mottley’s BLP expected to sweep all thirty seats. Cuba told airlines they can no longer refuel on the island — that’s how bad the fuel crisis has gotten. And Trinidad is positioning itself as the “gold standard” for energy sector business ahead of the Guyana Energy Conference next week.

That’s your Daily Brief for Thursday, February twelfth, twenty twenty-six. Stay informed, Guyana.

[END — 4 MINUTES]