He had been safely “hiding” there for the past three years, under an assumed name and with a Guyanese passport.

Millard, also known as Mustapha, appeared last Monday before Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls in the Port of Spain Eighth Court on a charge of conspiracy to murder.

The charge stemmed from an incident on June 4, 2003, where it is alleged Millard conspired with Jamaat leader Yasin Abu Bakr, currently in jail, to murder two expelled members of the radical Muslim organisation.

In its editorial last Monday -- the same day that Buffy appeared in court here in Trinidad -- the newspaper noted: “The presence of Mr. Millard and his uninterrupted stay until last week generate even more concerns about what has been happening security-wise in this country and illuminates the desperate need for expert input -- foreign and local -- into the security services.

The Stabroek News continued: “That this Jamaat man was able to stay under the radar for three years, though he was wanted in Trinidad for extremely serious crimes, demonstrates how far the security services have fallen behind the people they should be keeping close tabs on.”

Then it notes: “Mr. Millard is not the first Trinidadian in recent times to raise eyebrows.

“There are two ways of looking at this; the implications for this country and the objective of Millard’s operations in Guyana,which might turn out to be one and the same,” he suggested.

“It is more than interesting that it was in pursuit of investigations into the disappearance of 53 AK-47s from the Guyana military that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) found their way to Buffy.

“If you recall, it was polygraph tests conducted by FBI, which showed some Guyanese soldiers were less than honest, that led the investigators to this man who had been hiding out in Guyana for the last three years.

“The investigation about missing guns held them to Buffy, where they also found cellphone tracking devices and tapping equipment and this prompts further questions about how organised they are and whether they are a destabilising factor,” he observed.

“It was clear that the Guyanese police handed him over to TnT because they wanted him out of the country as soon as possible, especially since they do not trust the cops there.

“There have been at least three particularly destabilising events in Guyana in recent times and on the ground almost all of it has been linked to Trini criminal elements.

“In Guyana, a mysterious tape surfaced with a conversation betwen the Commissioner of Police and the Leader of the Opposition and it was circulated everywhere,” he observed.

“Even before that, guns disappeared from the Guyana Defence Force and if you take those two incidents into consideration, then you will understand that two arms of service were put into disarray, which obviously makes it easier for deleterious elements to have a field day,” the security analyst noted.

“In addition to that, there was the massacre at Agricola, on the east bank Demerara, in which at least five or six people were killed

“And the worst to date is the slaying of the Agriculture Minister, Satyadeo Sawh and members of his family, including a Canadian national, at his home,” he suggested.

“That followed the government’s decision to recall a timber concession to a man named Roger Khan, whom the United States Embassy in Georgetown confirmed has an indictment in Brooklyn, where he is wanted for conspiring with person or persons to import more than five kilogrammes of cocaine into the United States .

“Back in 1994, Khan, then 22, was identified as a wanted person by the authorities in the United States on a charge linked to the movement of guns across state borders,” he recalled.

The security analyst continued: “In Guyana, 15 mercenaries were seen on the street in Agricola before the shootout and 15 went by Sawh and in each event, it was a commando-style attack, with high powered weapons, which suggests they were trained people, not your average bandit.

“Are they operating like a terrorist cell? That question comes to mind, naturally!

“Then there is no reason to doubt that, by accident, Guyanese authorities made a serious dent in these attacks, when they busted Buffy and Joseph Aboud,” he added, for good measure.

“But the bigger problem for both Trinidad and Guyana is whether they have only managed to get two out of what is obviously a bigger group.

“The question to ask is whether he knew anything about the guns and then we must wonder whether the guns are in Guyana or in Trinidad,” our analyst noted with obvious concern.

“They have handed Buffy over to Trinidad as quickly as they could because the Guyanese ranks knew he was there all the time,” he observed.

“If the drug barons are to retaliate, for the obvious crackdown by the government and the FBI, by taking out a minister, then this must have grave implications for the people looking at security for the World Cup Cricket which is the buzz in Guyana, these days,” the analyst warned.

“Given the high emphasis placed on the cricket, this could force the Guyanese government to ease the pressure on the drug lords.

“Therefore, TnT must be careful, especially where it was unreported that an exclusive restaurant was robbed while patrons were in it. “There is a strong expatriate community in this country and we should be very concerned about the possibility of a cell operating in Guyana with Trinidadian leadership.

“Buffy’s presence merges the Trinidad and Guyana concert; Guyana is not just the Mudland; there are countless links and growing business links as well.

“And if you do not believe this, then check the latest US State Department report which says that there has been an increasing movement of drugs from Guyana through TnT.

Using that original drug route then it would be nothing for the 53 AK-47s to be in Trinidad,” the analysts ended on a sombre note.