Guyana is maintaining operational silence, including a media blackout, deliberately as this is an ongoing investigation on both sides of the Atlantic. We can say without fear of contradiction by our international partners that Guyana played an integral part in this operation and continues to be part of the ongoing investigation since it involved a trans-Atlantic drug trafficking network. While the vessel Matthieu is Guyana registered and did not depart from Guyana without getting the necessary clearance from MARAD, there is strong intelligence that the vessel was loaded at sea coupled with the fact that when intercepted, there was equipment on deck that was used in the transfer of heavy cargo while at sea, as seen in other seizures.