Two Chinese businessmen charged in Luana sugar import crackdown

LUANA, St Elizabeth — Two Chinese businessmen have been charged following a joint enforcement exercise by the police and the Sugar Industry Authority (SIA) in Luana, with the lawmen now putting wholesale and supermarket operators on notice that establishments stocking illegally imported sugar will be inspected and taken before the courts.

The charges, laid under the Sugar Control Act, were brought after investigators reportedly found Guyanese sugar being sold under the ‘Demerara’ label without the required import permit. Sergeant Desroy Holness, sub-officer in charge of the Area Three Agricultural Protection Branch (APB), confirmed the arrests and indicated that more action is expected.

“I am sending a strong message, along with members of the Sugar Industry Authority (SIA), that we believe that there are several other businesses out there who are selling this brand of brown sugar. When you are caught you will be prosecuted. This operation will be an ongoing operation by the APB and the Sugar Industry Authority,” Holness told journalists.

According to the sergeant, officers accompanied SIA personnel to a wholesale and supermarket in the St Elizabeth community, where the brown sugar was openly on display. “On entering, checks were made…and 10 packages of brown sugar [were seen]. The owners of the establishment were informed by the Sugar Industry Authority that no permit has been granted for such importation or sale of this brown sugar,” he said.

Friday’s operation comes against the backdrop of a pledge by the National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA) to step up oversight of sugar quality on public health grounds. That commitment was made after metal fragments were confirmed in samples of brown sugar produced by Pan-Caribbean Sugar Company Limited last week, prompting an immediate nationwide recall of the company’s products. The contamination concerns first surfaced when a consumer posted a TikTok video showing what looked like metal in a sugar purchase.

The NCRA has said it “is actively monitoring the situation concerning the quality and safety of sugar manufactured locally and currently in circulation within the domestic market”, adding that surveillance and enforcement activity along the sugar supply chain has been significantly ramped up. Its measures include focused inspections, broader sampling at retail outlets and distributors, and tighter cooperation with accredited laboratories on chemical and microbiological testing.

“To date, multiple samples have been collected from across the island and submitted for analysis. While the NCRA awaits the final laboratory results, precautionary measures have been implemented in the interest of public safety. These include the detention of goods which do not meet established safety, labelling, and traceability requirements,” the agency said in a statement.