Dear Editor,
I am very ‘up-to-date’ as regards Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed’s presence near President Irfaan Ali’s private Leonora home.
Now regarding the incident after interception, Azruddin Mohamed, as expected was legally detained and questioned by the police. The reason is simply that his vehicle was intercepted near President Irfaan Ali’s private residence. The details, now quite public, show that on 3rd September, 2026, the members of the Guyana Police Force stopped a black Toyota Land Cruiser along the Windsor Forest Public Road, West Coast Demerara, near the President’s home in Leonora. (And get this) Inside the trunk, officers discovered a DJI drone and four cellular phones. This is serious! It has elements of criminal intent.
The specifics of the incident are worth emphasising, as Mohamed was using a driver and accompanying the lot was a technician who admitted ownership of the device, though he noted his operator’s licence had expired. What is this?
Editor, this is more than enough to institute arrests and lay charges. The whole thing wreaks of suspicion, treachery and some kind clandestine operation. I cannot treat this as another of Mohamed’s many act of provocation, to have the upper end on the GPF, if he can only get them to do the irrational and illegal.
This then led to Special Prosecutor Glenn Hanoman raising alarms regarding Mohamed’s presence near the residence at night, suggesting the investigation could touch on severe security implications. Hanoman subsequently petitioned the court to revoke Mohamed’s bail, that had already ensued. However, Chief Magistrate, Judy Latchman, denied the prosecutor’s application to remand Mohamed.[1]
This is where the matter is as investigations are ongoing, with the Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed on self-bail.
I must point out that Azruddin Mohamed seems oblivious of what it really means to be the official Leader of the Opposition. His conduct and general deportment have descended to that which is wild, boisterous, and messy.
Overall, Mohamed’s behaviour represents a pattern of intimidation and lawlessness, and this ‘drone incident’ typifies what I am saying. I do not think that anyone needs convincing that ‘an unauthorised drone,’ allegedly seen flying over President Irfaan Ali’s private residence is tantamount to a security threat. Also, the man was in an ‘equipped for crime’ vehicle.
The chronic pattern set out by Mohamed leaves me wondering if he is simply trying to create as mush mess as he can, since he feels hopeless regarding his ‘11-count U.S. federal criminal indictment for gold smuggling and money laundering.’ We are talking here about his conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, and customs violations.[2]
I ask again, is it a case of ‘fighting for his life,’ since to him, it is in vain, so he might as well go down ‘guns a blazing?’
I do recall that In June 2023, Taylor Taranto actually streamed himself in Washington, D.C., He claimed that he was searching for “secret tunnels” outside the neighbourhood of former President Barack Obama’s residence.[3]
He was spotted walking into the woods near the property and was arrested by the Secret Service because his vehicle contained firearms, ammunition, and materials to make a Molotov cocktail. He was subsequently convicted of menacing and sentenced to time served plus supervised release. He was a private citizen, and not a political opposition leader, and by implication, Mohamed, being of a high-profile status, must be handled in a more stringent manner. Bear in mind that one of Mohamed’s associates admitted owning a drone, but with expired licence. This has its own element of laughter, as I recall that only recently, the said Oppostion Leader’s boat, the Prince AZ II, was detained by a joint police-coast guard patrol in Guyana, and it was revealed that its licence and certificate of inspection had expired seven years prior, on 10th September, 2018.
A joker? Certainly not. I see him as an utter demagogue.
He is infected with an irascible proclivity to incite violence. Look at his support base-not a word from Basil Williams and Joseph Harmon. Not a word from Clive Thomas or David Hinds. At least no defence of and no support for him in any missive or oral appeal. Mohamed is on a mission to muster up support by appealing to popular base desires and prejudices, all coming from the vulnerable rift-raft of society. I see him as someone who is willing to engage in what looks like “willful political immolation” as he seems to be a failure, and is driven by motives of escapism. He recognises that WIN, under him cannot win, so he selfishly choosing go down in a spectacular, uncompromising manner.