Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Themanfriday on December 06, 2005, 06:51:14 AM
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How about i decide to read the express online to day and see a picture of my cousin. She get locked upfor drugs?????
What de hell thewy doing I have a mind to come there ad whip her tail. Some body get me she number
No bail for drug accused
Richard Charan rcharan@trinidadexpress.com
Tuesday, December 6th 2005
Â
Hairdresser Abigail Friday-Teller (right) leaves the San Fernando Magistrates' Court yesterday after being denied bail on the charge of cocaine trafficking.
HAIRDRESSER Abigale Friday-Teller was denied bail yesterday on the charge of having 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine with the intention of trafficking the drug.
The drug which was sealed in 107 one-inch long capsules was found in a cereal box inside a duffel bag.
Friday-Teller, 36, appeared before San Fernando Second Court Magistrate Ameena Deonarinesingh.
With her hair dyed red and wearing a sweatsuit, Friday-Teller, of Corinth Village, San Fernando, was brought in handcuffs to the court.
She was represented by attorney Ian Gray.
Deonarinesingh read the charge to Friday-Teller, explaining that the prosecution intended to pursue the case indictably, which meant that she would face a High Court judge and jury if a prima facie case was made out against her.
The cocaine exhibit was displayed in court before, and prosecutor Sgt Joey Samaroo said police had also seized Friday-Teller's passport and a frosted flakes cereal box which formed part of the case against her.
Samaroo said that the woman, who was arrested at 4.30 a.m. on Sunday had not been traced by police.
The magistrate said it was reasonable to grant the State time to conduct the criminal background check and the police were given 24 hours.
Friday-Teller, who operates a hair salon from her home, was remanded in custody to reappear in court today when bail will be considered.
10 to 1 is murder
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Boy dat sour is yuh family but d drugs scene real killing d country now....need some stiffer penalties for dem running d powder.
Hard luck it so close to home fuh yuh
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hard luck dey fadda.but all ah dat in life.dont worry jus stay with ur family as one .pCe :)
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yuh do de crime yuh do de time
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yuh do de crime yuh do de time
well i guess she know what she was getting herself into...so she really have nobody to blame. hard luck tho Friday...sorry too hear that its your cousin.
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easy money is a temptation.
tempation is a bitch.
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Is South American drugs flooding our country
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and ya know dey thing about this is...dey does only find dey 'small' fry and not the 'big' fish
this is never change
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yuh do de crime yuh do de time
yeah man thats exactly how it is. no matter who u is....
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BBC
Australia's High Court has overturned the convictions of two alleged drug traffickers, because the judge in their original trial repeatedly fell asleep.
The court heard that the judge slept for up to 20 minutes at a time and sometimes snored, distracting the jury.
At the end of the 2004 trial, Rafael Cesan and Ruben Mas Rivadavia were convicted of importing ecstasy, but now face a retrial.
Judge Ian Dodd has since been diagnosed with a condition known as sleep apnoea.
"Where the judge is noticeably and repeatedly asleep or inattentive during the trial, there can be a miscarriage of justice," said Chief Justice Robert French.
The High Court heard that members of the jury were visibly distracted and sometimes amused, while court officials resorted to dropping documents loudly in a bid to wake the napping judge.
The 11 to 13-year sentences given to the two men have been cancelled, along with their convictions.
It would be interesting to see in the retrial if these 2 guys get shorter sentences... ;D
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No more Guyana
hot sauce Cocaine in Toronto
Big drug bust nets $40M in cocaine
Map: GTA homicides Crime Stoppers Dec 23, 2008 03:33 PM
Adrian Morrow
Staff reporter
Police have seized $40 million worth of cocaine and arrested one suspect in one of the largest busts in Ontario history.
The cocaine was smuggled inside boxes of hot sauce on a boat from Guyana and destined for an Etobicoke food importer. The drug was inserted into the cardboard dividers inside the boxes, police said today.
"Cocaine is everyone's enemy," Durham Chief Mike Ewles told reporters when he announced the bust. "This arrest will have an impact on the availability of the drug in the GTA."
Border guards uncovered the cocaine during an inspection of a freighter arriving in St. John, N.B. on Dec. 8. Agents found the cocaine in 551 of the 1,250 boxes of sauce on board.
In total, they found 276 kilograms of cocaine which, when cut and resold by street-level drug dealers, could amount to as much as 400 kilograms of the drug.
They removed most of the cocaine, but allowed 2 kilograms to be delivered to Caribbean International Food Distributors in Etobicoke. When the boxes were loaded into a storage facility on Dec. 19, a male suspect was arrested.
"We believe the drugs we seized were destined for Durham Region and other communities in the Golden Horseshoe," Inspector Tom Cameron of the Durham Regional Police said at a press conference.
The bust is the first big break for police involved in Project Falcon, an investigation started in November 2007 by Durham police with the goal of identifying the source of drugs being sold in the region.
The investigation helped police first identify the man who was ultimately arrested in the bust.
The cocaine has been tested by Health Canada and found to be 80 per cent pure, Cameron said. He said the cocaine bust is the largest in Durham Region and might also be the biggest ever in Ontario.
Mahendrapaul Doodnauth, 45, of Toronto, is charged with importing cocaine, conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
He was scheduled to appear in court today.
With files from Jeff Mitchell
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Drug trafficking now punishable in prisons; $25,000 fine
Wednesday 17th March, 2010
A bill to punish trafficking inside the prisons was passed on Tuesday night in the Senate with the support of the Opposition. For prisons officers and others caught trafficking, the fine will now be twenty five thousand dollars.
The bill is meant to improve the ability of the Prisons Service to keep cell phones, drugs and guns out of the prisons.
All of the Opposition and Independent Senators who were in the Parliament Chamber when the bill was called to a vote last night supported the measure. Read the rest http://ctntworld.com/LocalArticles.aspx?id=19104
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Interesting read here..Senator Greaves slams Govt on prison horrors..http://guardian.co.tt/news/politics/2010/03/17/new-unc-senator-slams-govt-prison-horrors
http://www.youtube.com/v/a7Qz7B5iZ-I
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Prisoner hangs himself in cell
Friday 19th March, 2010
Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a 46-year-old prisoner who was found hanging in his cell early this morning at the Sangre Grande Police Station.
Investigators told C News that Lester Lucien from Riley Street, Sangre Grande was arrested by police for disorderly behaviour and the possession of cocaine near his home close to one this morning. Read the rest http://www.ctntworld.com/LocalArticles.aspx?id=19170
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Strip search leads to cocaine
Published: 28 Aug 2010
Chaguanas Municipal police searched a woman yesterday and found ten grammes of cocaine hidden in her rectum. The woman was held around 3 pm, after PCs Vilafana, James, Ramdahal and WPC James got a tip-off. The 20-year-old woman, of Chaguanas, was standing at the Chaguanas/Couva maxi-taxi stand when the officers approached her.
According to reports, the policewoman told the suspect of their suspicion and made her strip. Upon searching her, the officer found a black plastic bag, containing the cocaine. The woman and the exhibits were taken to the Chaguanas Police Station.
She is expected to appear before a Chaguanas magistrate on Monday, charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The officers, who were conducting an exercise headed by Insp Lewis, also issued tickets for various traffic offences, including breach of traffic lights and illegal overtaking.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7MVl5RrBG0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7MVl5RrBG0)
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nuttin really new there..have nuff friends who have those in coke, sprite, even bug spray cans..
Go in any good smoke shop in NY or Toronto and they have them for sale.
some of them really amazing
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by Wade Goodwyn
November 23, 2010
November 23, 2010 A legal drama has been playing out for almost three years in the Texas town of Clarksville of Red River County.
During that time, two black brothers have seen their lives turned upside down, and a white judge was recused from the case after allegations of judicial bias and criticism for pushing a drug case that just about everyone urged him to drop.
(http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/10/29/statue.jpeg_custom.jpeg?t=1288383034&s=12)
Enlarge
Dreanna Belden/UNT Libraries
A large statue of a Confederate soldier, Col. John C. Burks, stands in the town square of Clarksville, Texas, where brothers Vergil and Mark Richardson grew up.
Clarksville was one of the first places settled in the state of Texas. After 190 years since its founding, the town of 3,200 retains a slightly dilapidated Southern charm.
In the town square stands a large statue of a Confederate soldier, Col. John C. Burks. What's strange is that the statue is not facing east toward Murfreesboro, Tenn., where Burks and many other locals lost their lives charging a Union battery. Nor is it facing south in honor of Burks' beloved Confederacy.
The Confederate colonel faces northwest, as if looking toward Idaho. But the way Vergil Richardson sees it, the statue is actually keeping an eye on the town's black neighborhood.
Richardson grew up in Clarksville. He led the local high school's basketball team to two state championship games and eventually came back to coach the team. He says that since the days of Reconstruction, the Confederate officer has been sending a quiet message from Clarksville's white community to its black community.
"The message is whatever you do I'm watching and they are," Richardson says.
'Cops Everywhere'
Three blocks south from Clarksville's town square on South Columbia Street is Richardson's two-bedroom house. As Thanksgiving approached in 2007, six members of the Richardson family, including two brothers — Vergil, now 40, and Mark, 38 — had gathered to celebrate. They did not know it, but the Richardsons were being watched — not by Col. Burks but by Clarksville law enforcement.
Reporter's Notebook
The Sidewalks Of Clarksville, Texas
NPR's Wade Goodwyn reflects on an interview with the Richardson brothers on the sidewalk behind their former high school in Clarksville, Texas, and the lasting legacy of racial tension in East Texas.
As 10:30 p.m. approached, a few family members were playing dominoes and watching TV, while others had already gone to bed. Suddenly, the police burst through the door without knocking.
"They [were] screaming, yelling, telling [us to] get on the floor, cursing us out," Vergil says.
(http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/10/04/DSC_0061.jpg?t=1286209578&s=2)
Courtesy of Lesher & Associates
Mark Richardson sits on the steps of a courthouse in Texas. Richardson and his brother Vergil were charged in a 2007 drug case and have since filed a civil rights lawsuit against the local district attorney, sheriff and police chief.
The high school coach had never been in trouble, hadn't even had a traffic ticket.
"I was very scared, didn't know what to do. I looked up because I know some of them. The prosecutor, he was there with a gun in his hand," Vergil recalls.
Meanwhile, Vergil's brother Mark was sitting in a car outside the house talking to a friend.
"And I looked [and said], 'Oh my God! Look, it's cops everywhere!' And they did not see us. And I was like, 'We better get out.' She was like, 'No, let's stay in here,' " Mark says.
Mark and his friend did get out of the car and were immediately handcuffed. He says law enforcement officers screamed at his friend as she stood there bewildered. "You know where the drugs are! We're going to put you up under the jailhouse," Mark recalls the officers yelling at his friend.
The Sale
Earlier in the day, 25-year-old Kevin Calloway, Vergil and Mark's half-brother, had sold a bag of marijuana to a police informant. Calloway was a student at nearby Paris Junior College, and Vergil was letting him stay in his Clarksville house. As Vergil stood handcuffed in the kitchen, the sheriff explained the situation.
"[The sheriff] said, '[Calloway's] been selling drugs out of your house.' And I said, 'Well, if you [had] told me that, I would have kicked him out,' " Vergil recounts.
Vergil asked to see the search warrant. The question seemed to take the sheriff by surprise.
Bias On The Bench
(http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/09/29/judgemiller_custom.jpg?t=1285791484&s=1)
Courtesy of Bowie County Website/co.bowie.tx.us
Judge John Miller of the 102nd District Court, Texas
"Every turn has suggested that [Judge Miller] refuses to consider [their innocence] a possibility." — Clyde Lee, an attorney for the Richardsons
Read This And Other Excerpts of Judge John Miller's recusal hearing.
"He said, 'Yeah, [I'm going] to let you see it.' And I asked him again, you know, right after that, and he said, '[I'm going] to let you see it.' And I said, 'Well, OK. Please let me see it,' " Vergil says.
According to Vergil, the sheriff finally pulled out of his front pocket a white piece of paper about the size of a receipt, flashed it in his direction and quickly stuffed it back in his pocket. He then yelled at the officers, "Get these guys out of here!"
In a police interrogation room a few hours later, Kevin Calloway confessed to the sheriff that he kept a stash of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine locked in the garden shed in the backyard. There was just one key to the lock, and Calloway kept it in his pocket.
On the interrogation room videotape, Calloway sits, elbows on his knees, dejectedly looking at the floor. The sheriff asks him again and again, "Did the others know what you were doing?" Calloway says eight different times during the interview that the drugs belonged to him, and his brothers did not know he was dealing.
Hiring Lawyers
Despite Calloway's confession, the other five members of the Richardson family present that night were charged with manufacture of a controlled substance, intent to distribute and organized crime. They all faced life in prison and suffered the consequence of being suspected drug dealers.
High school head basketball coach Vergil Richardson was fired immediately. Although the family was stunned, the Richardsons were not penniless. They hired well-known East Texas trial attorney Mark Lesher, whose first order of business was to get District Attorney Val Varley off the case. Varley was with the police when they broke down the door.
"Not only is he dressed up — he's got a flak jacket on and an assault rifle. He's part of the raid," Lesher says.
Val Varley declined to speak to NPR about the case. But his decision to participate in the raid ended up having far-reaching consequences. By making himself a witness to the arrests and the gathering of evidence, Varley eventually had to step aside from prosecuting the case. So the judge in Clarksville, John Miller, asked the state attorney general's office to prosecute it.
Questions About The Case
The state prosecutors quickly became wary of the Clarksville case. One problem was that it appeared the search warrant had been issued after the raid — after Vergil Richardson had repeatedly asked the sheriff if he could see it.
"[In] three different sections in the discovery, [it] stated that the search started at approximately 10:30 [p.m.]. And the search warrant was signed at 10:49 [p.m.]. And the search was conducted before the search warrant was signed. It's just illegal, period," Lesher says.
The search warrant issue potentially compromised the drug evidence found in the shed.
Shock Waves Through The Courthouse
Lesher, the trail lawyer, sent a shock wave through the small Red River County courthouse when, on behalf of the Richardson brothers, he filed a $2 million civil rights lawsuit against the district attorney, the sheriff and the Clarksville police chief, all of whom participated in the raid.
Then the news got even worse for Red River County. The attorney general's office told Miller that the prosecutors were going to dismiss the charges against the Richardson family, with the exception of Kevin Calloway, who had already confessed. Prosecutors wrote the judge that they were dismissing the charges "in the interest of justice."
But the judge in the case made it clear to both the prosecutors and the defense lawyers that he had no intention of backing off.
"A judge can sit a case, but the judge can't force that case to trial. I've never seen a motion to dismiss signed and executed by the [district attorney] that's never been signed by the judge. It's always just pro forma," Lesher says.
State Judge John Miller refused to accept the attorney general's decision to drop the case. The ruling was so unusual that it lifted legal heads around the state.
But the judge was just getting started. He told defense lawyers that he intended to replace the attorney general's office and appoint a new special prosecutor, someone who would agree to prosecute all of the members of the Richardson family, not just their half-brother Calloway.
Outside The Courtroom
The judge approached one of Vergil Richardson's defense lawyers and asked him to step into a deserted jury room. As Clyde Lee recalls, Miller told him that he wanted to cut a deal.
According to Lee, Miller offered a quid pro quo: If Vergil would dismiss his civil rights lawsuit, then the judge, in return, would dismiss the criminal charges.
But Vergil refused, and a few weeks later, the judge offered a different deal.
"[Miller] then got real specific in saying that my client should testify against the other co-defendants with respect to their drug activity and what he knew had to be true," Lee says.
While it is standard for prosecutors and defense lawyers to negotiate plea deals, that is not usually the judge's role. Miller did not respond to repeated requests by NPR for comment.
(http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/10/29/coachvergil.jpg?t=1288382559&s=2)
Courtesy of Vergil Richardson
Head coach Vergil Richardson (center) poses with his high school basketball team in Texarkana, Texas. After being charged in a drug case in 2007, Richardson lost his job
A History Of Not Following The Book
The question remains: Why would a judge insert himself so provocatively into a case?
Bill Hankins, a reporter for The Paris News in nearby Paris, Texas, who has been covering the story closely, thinks this case is about more than just race.
"You know, [Red River County] is a poor county ... and I think ... [Miller is] concerned about the lawsuit eating up funds that they don't have," he says.
As for the repeated overtures from the judge to defense lawyer Lee outside of court, Hankins says it has to be understood in the context of a small town.
"I'm going to say that it has been done many times before, but it is not the proper way to do it. And I'm going to say that Red River County has a history of doing things probably in ways that don't follow the book," Hankins says.
The Nightmare Ends
In Hankins' view, the Richardsons are actually bit players in their own drama. The leading roles go to the two powerful political interests in the white community — the district attorney and judge on one side, and the trial lawyers on the other.
If Hankins' theory is true, the trial lawyers began to gain the upper hand after Lesher filed a motion to remove Miller from the case, alleging bias. And in a case of unlikely allies, state prosecutors supported the defendants' request to recuse the judge.
No dismissal hearing was held after a new judge was appointed. Instead, the new judge told the Texas attorney general's office to mail him the motions to dismiss, which he signed recently.
The Richardson's three-year nightmare was finally over. But scars still remain.
I'm going to say that Red River County has a history of doing things probably in ways that don't follow the book.
- Bill Hankins, reporter for The Paris News
"I told my wife that I might need to go see a psychiatrist," Mark says, "because every time a cop gets behind me, they'll run my license plate. They [are] going to stop me, because those charges will show up."
Picking Up The Pieces
Like his brother Vergil, Mark Richardson had never been in trouble with the law. He had always thought African-Americans in East Texas exaggerated when they told stories about local law enforcement. He's a different man now.
Asked if he thinks what happened to him and his brother is related to their being black, Mark says yes, he thinks so.
"And that's so sad, because I didn't really believe that at first," Mark says. "That's why it's so hard for me to say that, but it's true: They don't like blacks."
It will take time for the Richardsons to get their lives back. Vergil hopes to once again coach high school basketball. Two years after he was fired, his team went on to win the state championship without him. As for Mark, he would like to sell the house in Clarksville and put his hometown in his rearview mirror.
The Richardsons' civil rights lawsuit against the Red River County district attorney, the sheriff and the chief of police begins early next year.
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Tulia, Texas: In the summer of 1999, 46 people were arrested in a drug sting in the tiny town of Tulia, population 5,000. Most of those arrested were African-American. All of the arrests were based entirely on the word of a single undercover deputy police officer, Tom Coleman, who had been charged with stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise at his previous job in another Texas county. When Tulia authorities discovered Coleman's criminal charges, they hid the fact so as not to jeopardize the drug prosecutions. The defendants were sentenced to as long as 99-year prison terms for selling cocaine. Coleman's lies about the drug deals were eventually exposed and discredited, and the convicted Tulians were pardoned and released from Texas prisons. But the town remains scarred by the experience.
Hearne, Texas: The story of Regina Kelly, a young black mother of four in Hearne, Texas, inspired an award-winning Hollywood movie called American Violet. Kelly was among 27 residents — all but one of whom were black — arrested for selling cocaine in the fall of 2000. The charges were based upon the testimony of a single informant, who framed the victims by scraping bits of his own stash of crack cocaine into white chalk so that it would test positive. Still, several defendants pleaded guilty in return for probation to avoid the possibility of a long prison sentence. The ACLU filed suit against the local district attorney and the South Central Texas Narcotics Task Force for conducting repeated racially motivated raids. The suit was eventually settled and the criminal charges dismissed against those who had not already pleaded guilty.
Dallas Fake Drug Scandal: Initially celebrated as the largest drug bust in Dallas County history, the case ultimately led to the dismissal of more than 80 drug cases after a story broken by WFAA-TV. Like the Hearne case, these drug cases were based on the testimony of police informants. But in Dallas, the targets were Mexican immigrants, many of whom were working as auto mechanics or day laborers. Despite their modest jobs, these defendants were accused of dealing huge amounts of cocaine. One man was charged with having more than 176 pounds of the high-priced drug. But the cocaine found was actually powdered sheet rock that had been planted by police informants who were conspiring with Dallas narcotics officers to frame the defendants. Drug-buy money went missing. Six police officers were implicated; three informants and two officers were eventually convicted in the scandal; and the Dallas district attorney’s office was accused of prosecuting drug cases it knew were bad.
— Wade Goodwyn
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This does not matter any more, the USA elected a black man as President. :(
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I have read about the Tulia case before. That was gross miscarriage of justice.
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New Govt may hurt war on narcotics
US State Dept:
Story Created: Mar 6, 2011 at 10:46 PM ECT
(Story Updated: Mar 6, 2011 at 10:46 PM ECT )
Actions taken by the People's Partnership Government since it was elected last year could hurt the Caribbean's ongoing battle against illegal drugs, a new narcotics report by the US State Department has said.
Released last Friday, the report featured Trinidad and Tobago and suggested that actions by the new Government elected in May last year may hurt the regional drug fight.
The 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) said that even though counter-narcotics efforts remain a priority for the Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration, "the new Government has de-emphasised regional efforts and assistance programmes, including some security-related projects that would impact counter-narcotics efforts, in order to focus greater attention on domestic issues".
Locally, the report pointed out that the Government struggles to effectively coordinate and implement its drug-control assets, and maintenance issues, corruption, and gaps in the legislative framework remain challenges.
"While Trinidad and Tobago has dedicated resources and political will to drug control efforts, overall, there does not appear to be a marked change in its drug-control performance in 2010. Some initiatives, including demand reduction programmes for school children and at-risk youth, may take years to show results. Other strategies, like the deployment of new fast patrol vessels and helicopters, and improved recruitment and training of law enforcement personnel, could yield positive changes more quickly" the report stated.
It suggested that border control could be improved through better surveillance coordination and increased marine interdictions.
Increasing border patrols on the western side of Trinidad would make trafficking more difficult for smugglers arriving from Venezuela, it added. Furthermore, it noted, improving the level of passenger and cargo screening at the air and sea ports, including better targeting, profiling and automation of inspections, could increase seizure rates and act as a greater deterrent.
The US said that effective use of technology could also improve Trinidad and Tobago's narcotics control efforts, noting that the use of communications tracking tools yielded direct results in 2010.
"Automated processing systems would allow for better tracking of shipments through the air and sea ports, people entering and leaving the country, and of prisoners entering and moving through the penal system," it said.
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Time to disclose anti-drug trade plans
Story Created: Mar 8, 2011 at 10:47 PM ECT
(Story Updated: Mar 8, 2011 at 10:47 PM ECT )
THE 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) by the US State Department is sure to renew the debate in Trinidad and Tobago over the People's Partnership's cancellation of the contract for Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs). The OPVs, specially ordered under the previous PNM administration at a $5 billion price tag, were supposed to be a key weapon in the fight against drug-trafficking. The Partnership, however, did not consider the OPVs effective, or at least not cost-effective.
The language of the US report is cautious and tentative, but its reference to deployment of OPVs as part of what "could yield positive changes more quickly" is liable to be interpreted as disapproval from the US government. Indeed, the Partnership has vowed to retain the order for helicopters, if not for fast-patrol vessels, and the INSCR also acknowledges other anti-crime and anti-drug initiatives.
However, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar must be discomfited that the American government has echoed, albeit diplomatically, the same criticism made by her local political opponents. PNM leader Keith Rowley claimed that the cancellation of the OPV contract would lead to T&T becoming the guns and drugs capital of the Caribbean.
Such hyperbole gives too much weight to technology which, although necessary, must be ineffectual when the political will to eradicate drug trafficking is weak. Dr Rowley, after all, was part of an administration which made deals with "community leaders", who were leaders in large part because of the profits they made from trafficking in illegal narcotics. And Mrs Persad-Bissessar herself, as a Minister in the Basdeo Panday administration, also saw some of these same individuals elevated to influential posts through the URP.
In tackling crime, therefore, the Partnership cannot sing a one-chord tune about resuming the executions of convicted murderers. The Government has to demonstrate that it is rejecting the approach of past regimes, and that it is not willing to compromise with individuals who are part and parcel of the drug trade in this country. The Prime Minister will surely respond, publicly or at a diplomatic level, to the concerns raised by the Americans. In respect to the OPVs, the country's financial constraints alone are a good enough reason for the cancellation – indeed, the US itself, with its own economic slowdown, has reduced the resources given to other countries to combat drug trafficking.
However, the report, released at a time when T&T is taking part with other Caribbean and US forces in regional security exercises, would put pressure on the Partnership to make clear, not only for Washington's benefit, but also for the T&T public, exactly what its own credible, anti-drug and anti-crime strategies comprise. That is information which citizens are also anxious to get.
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Ganja worth $18m found in container
By Akile Simon
Story Created: Mar 10, 2011 at 11:49 PM ECT
(Story Updated: Mar 10, 2011 at 11:49 PM ECT )
Police recovered over $18 million worth of compressed marijuana concealed in a 40-foot shipping container at the port of Point Lisas on Wednesday.
And they are now trying to find the people responsible for bringing in the container and its contents.
However, officers complained about a lack of co-operation from Customs and Excise officers at the port saying they were forced to wait close to five hours before the container was opened.
Police said the original seal on the container had been replaced with a Trinidad and Tobago Customs and Excise seal and they were told by Customs officers that the container had been tampered with.
It was only after the intervention of Deputy Police Commissioners Stephen Williams and Raymond Craig that senior Customs officers sent a team from the Customs Marine Interdiction Unit (MIU) to the port and the container was opened.
A total of ten large luggage bags were found containing 118 packets of the illegal drug, which weighed close to 300 kilogrammes.
The original seal of the container was found in a black plastic bag tied to one of the bags containing the drugs, police said.
Police said the container arrived at the port of Port of Spain on March 1, onboard cargo ship Stadt Renbsburg which came from Jamaica. The container was then transferred to the Point Lisas port on March 4.
Officers said they have not been furnished—even though they made repeated requests to Customs officers—with any documentation regarding the importer. Apart from the marijuana, the shipment consisted of power washers and hoses.
Attempts to contact Comptroller of Customs and Excise Fitzroy John for comment yesterday proved futile as calls to his office phones went unanswered.
Over the past two months, police have made several seizures and arrests in connection with the importation and trafficking of the Arizona marijuana and seedlings which appeared to be in high demand in the country.
The drug bust involved officers from the North Eastern Division Task Force, which included Sgt Roger Alexander, Cpl Sunil Bharath, and PCs Lorenzo Lezama, Jerome Gordon and Andell Celestine.
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Curtail the rise and flow of the influence of Jamaican culture in TnT. Maintain a steady patrol of the coastal waters. Major internal cleansing of those who have to serve and protect.
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$30m drug bust in Point Lisas
Story Created: Mar 12, 2011 at 11:50 PM ECT
(Story Updated: Mar 12, 2011 at 11:50 PM ECT )
DAYS after officers of the North Eastern Division Task Force found more than $18 million worth of compressed Arizona high grade marijuana in a container at the Point Lisas Port, another multi-million dollar seizure was made on Friday.
This time, the narcotics, which is estimated to be in excess of $30 million, was discovered by officers of the Customs and Excise Division on Friday afternoon.
In a press release issued yesterday, the Customs and Excise Division stated that the seizure was made after ongoing intelligence operations at Port conducted by the Customs and Excise Preventive Branch and the Marine Interdiction Unit.
"With the co-operation of Point Lisas Port, officials were able to identify containers intransit from Jamaica containing approximately 800 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana. The marijuana was enclosed in several containers. Investigations are continuing at the Port as it is believed that more contaminated containers exist," the release added.
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Good lord... Marijuana is not "narcotics".
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I remember in David Rudder's "Mad Man Rant"
"Somebody clean out de weed REAL FASS! But SOMEBODY letting de cocaine pass!"
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http://www.youtube.com/v/SYqLeYJoaBc&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/v/SYqLeYJoaBc&feature=related
Amazing how pertinent it still could be.
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same people in government too...
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So one day customs blocking them from finding the weed. Then a couple days later customs make a bust of their own. :-X They knew what was in the container.
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The seal was obviously changed on the container..take time and read.
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So one day customs blocking them from finding the weed. Then a couple days later customs make a bust of their own. :-X They knew what was in the container.
you know you making sense. But what if it is the other way around. Right now it appears to me that we do not know which arm of the security services to trust or believe. Becuase next thing you hear they find guns and ganja in some police station ceiling.
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Fact is....it far too easy to have corruption in the system and get away with it. Corrupt police...corrupt customs.....there are many officers for sale.
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When these containers come to our shores or on the docks it must have a person name who ever it came to , i am quite sure it have some paper work attached to those containers and nobody get hold yet .
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that is a inside job , them customs people corrupt , the fact that the original seal get tampered with , normally the seal number has the match the documents or the container would not clear, so it strange the seal get replace with a customs seal, why? Funny also how the customs was dragging they feet with it.
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So then lets here what the COP have to say about that or for that matter the security minister .
All them custom officers who is working at Pt lisas should be transfered like yesterday what else coming in that we dont know about .
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http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,146264.html (http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,146264.html)
US raises alarm
By Nalinee Seelal Friday, August 26 2011
The illegal trafficking of cocaine to the United States (US) from Trinidad and Tobago (TT) was one of the reasons which prompted Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, as head of the National Security Council, to ask President George Maxwell Richards to declare a state of emergency.
Highly-placed security sources told Newsday the Prime Minister was told large quantities of cocaine were entering this country from Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil and for transhipment to the US. Some of the drugs were also been trafficked locally among gangs.
The Prime Minister was also advised by US intelligence agencies that TT needed to deal swiftly with the illegal trafficking because the country was nearing a crisis as guns were being smuggled into communities to gangs fighting over drug turfs, resulting in persons being killed. There was also concern about the trafficking of drugs to the US. Newsday understands officials from the US Department of Homeland Security. On Wednesday, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan admitted that this country was able to avert a national crisis with the declaration of a state of emergency but he declined to give further details.
He said emergency measures came after the recent seizure of $22 million in cocaine but warned that the operation had deeper implications, and had averted further trafficking of an estimated $100 million in illegal narcotics.
“By making that discovery is to stop an entire drug trafficking operation that used Trinidad and Tobago as a route and trans-shipment point,” Ramlogan said at a security briefing on Wednesday. Last Friday, a 19-year-old man was remanded in custody after appearing before an Arima magistrate charged for possession of an estimated $21.6 million worth of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking. Nathaniel Bowen, of Almond Boulevard, Arima was charged for the possession of 53.926 kilogrammes of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking; with possession of an illegal drug for the purposes of export; and possession of 10.9 grammes of marijuana.
It was alleged that at about 10.40 pm on August 16, officers of the Organized Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau, were on duty at the Piarco International Airport, when they intercepted two suitcases that were checked in to load onto a Carribean Airlines flight destined for New York.
One of the suitcases was a green suitcase which held 25 packets of cocaine all wrapped in a blue blanket. The other suitcase was blue, and also contained 25 packets of cocaine, wrapped in an orange blanket.
Further investigations by the officers led them to detain Bowen, who it was alleged was the person who checked in the suitcases. As a result, the teenager was arrested, and a search was conducted at his home, where officers later discovered the marijuana hidden in a green pouch.
National security sources yesterday said the drug bust, considered to be the largest for the year thus far, was part of a large scale operation into the trafficking of cocaine valued at millions of dollars to the US via flights with domestic passengers.
The source added that the amount of drugs entering this country on a weekly basis for this year was of a larger amount than in previous years and had the capacity to cause a national crisis. It was estimated that cocaine enters this country weekly via air and sea transport.
Due to the state of emergency all borders are now under lock down and immigration and customs officers as well as the Coast Guard have been mandated to carry out new search procedures to ensure that illegal drugs do not enter the country.
Newsday understands that all the ports of entry will now have stringent security checks while at the Piarco International Airport new search procedures are also being adopted.
A source at the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau yesterday said the investigations surrounding the $22 million cocaine seizure is at a sensitive stage and more persons are to be detained.
The source added that several persons employed at a company which provides services at the airport have been quizzed and key information have been obtained.
This past February $13 million worth of drugs was seized in Arima and Barataria. According to police reports after weeks of surveillance a party of officers raided a house at The Crossings, an upscale gated community of Tumpuna Road, Arima. During the raid the officers dismantled an air-conditioning unit where they discovered 21 packets of cocaine worth $8.4 million.
In the second incident, that same month, officers conducted an exercise at Saw Mill Avenue, Barataria and discovered large travel bags with compressed high grade marijuana with an estimated value of $3.6 million. Then in April officers seized pure cocaine with a street value of $800,000 which was found in a warehouse in Frederick Settlement, Caroni. Two men were subsequently detained.
In March, cocaine valued $600,000 was seized in an abandoned house in Barataria.
Also in March, high grade Arizona marijuana with a street value of more than $18 million was found in a container at the Point Lisas Port. Days after that bust, illegal narcotics, estimated at $30 million, was discovered by officers of the Customs and Excise Division at the Point Lisas Port.
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Hmmmm. So the picture getting clearer.
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Hmmmm. So the picture getting clearer.
Preacher so d mighty US have 2 tell we what 2 do. Evrybody and dey brudder know we is a transhipment pt. D old Burroughs was charged for reciving drugs in Carli Bay back in d day. Carli Bay not a hot spot it eh under curfew.
Not 2 mention d Newsday get d scoop? I wonder if Ken ALi give dem?
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Hmmmm. So the picture getting clearer.
is still froggy for some.
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All dis well and good. However:
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,146264.html (http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,146264.html)
He said emergency measures came after the recent seizure of $22 million in cocaine but warned that the operation had deeper implications, and had averted further trafficking of an estimated $100 million in illegal narcotics.
Is it correct in thinking...this like..."Oh shucks boy....we cyar move dem keys now nah. Leh we wait until things cool down"?
Cause...unless those drugs siezed and people arrested.....we delaying it..not stopping it.
I would hope with police having powers to search and enter premises and such that more dents in the drug trade occur.
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Hmmmm. So the picture getting clearer.
is still froggy for some.
It eh "froggy" for me....
Yuh doh need a state of emergency to deal with this. There is enough legislation in place for law enforcement to do what needs to be done without suspending the civil rights of ALL citizens!! What is needed is will power.......and as of day 5, I'm still waiting for a big fish to be held during this SOE......and ah don't mean the big fish down on Nelson Street ah mean de REAL big fish.....
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My thinking is that since somebody lorse dey consignment the other day..the SOE would the perfect cover to bring in 3 or 4 more stash....just my thinking...... but I like conspiracy theories......
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Hmmmm. So the picture getting clearer.
Preacher so d mighty US have 2 tell we what 2 do. Evrybody and dey brudder know we is a transhipment pt. D old Burroughs was charged for reciving drugs in Carli Bay back in d day. Carli Bay not a hot spot it eh under curfew.
Not 2 mention d Newsday get d scoop? I wonder if Ken ALi give dem?
MAYBE OUR PRIME Minister had no idea we were a MAJOR transhipment point .. this was new intelligence to her and the AG an this this used to go on so she call a SOE
"The Prime Minister was also advised by US intelligence agencies that TT needed to deal swiftly with the illegal trafficking because the country was nearing a crisis as guns were being smuggled into communities to gangs fighting over drug turfs, resulting in persons being killed. There was also concern about the trafficking of drugs to the US. Newsday understands officials from the US Department of Homeland Security. On Wednesday, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan admitted that this country was able to avert a national crisis with the declaration of a state of emergency but he declined to give further details."
He said emergency measures came after the recent seizure of $22 million in cocaine but warned that the operation had deeper implications, and had averted further trafficking of an estimated $100 million in illegal narcotics.
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Hmmmm. So the picture getting clearer.
is still froggy for some.
It eh "froggy" for me....
Yuh doh need a state of emergency to deal with this.
Maybe because their evidence collection is bad so they need to search without warrants ? ???
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The source added that the amount of drugs entering this country on a weekly basis for this year was of a larger amount than in previous years and had the capacity to cause a national crisis. It was estimated that cocaine enters this country weekly via air and sea transport.
This statement speak for itself , it shows that the past gov was doing a better job protecting the boarders
that this gov , my oponion could be wrong but this is how i see it .
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Hmmmm. So the picture getting clearer.
is still froggy for some.
It eh "froggy" for me....
Yuh doh need a state of emergency to deal with this.
Maybe because their evidence collection is bad so they need to search without warrants ? ???
So rather than focus on making evidence collection better, you call an SOE?? Instead of making the courts functional, you call for an SOE??
So after the SOE we back to square one then??.....
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The source added that the amount of drugs entering this country on a weekly basis for this year was of a larger amount than in previous years and had the capacity to cause a national crisis. It was estimated that cocaine enters this country weekly via air and sea transport.
This statement speak for itself , it shows that the past gov was doing a better job protecting the boarders
that this gov , my oponion could be wrong but this is how i see it .
Before even seeing this article, I remember a talk show host this morning stating that information coming to him from sources inside the security arena is that since the start of PP's reign, the amount of drugs passing through here on its way to the US has increased dramatically. And that the US vex like hell.....
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d coke passin increase becuz issa big big big big fish that hav free reign on d borders now. i wonder who that cud be...
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d coke passin increase becuz issa big big big big fish that hav free reign on d borders now. i wonder who that cud be...
Well they did not buy the Offshore Patrol Vessels .....
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let's see who mr big is!!!!!
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d coke passin increase becuz issa big big big big fish that hav free reign on d borders now. i wonder who that cud be...
lol
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It seems to be (and I prepared to be corrected) that usually you need some kind of solid evidence to justify a magistrate issuing a search warrant. Now everyone keeps saying that the police know who the crims and Mr Bigs are, but clearly, can't obtain evidence. This is not unusual anywhere in the world. How many mafia dons are known in the US, but can't be prosecuted? How many MR Bigs in UK are known? By instigating the SOE, police can go in and arrest the suspects, search for some evidence (no matter how small) and arrest. Once under arrest, you have a real chance of obtaining information. In fact, you hold all the cards.
Imagine you search the house of Bandit A who you know is in a gang. You arrest bandit A. Next night, Bandit A's krew are panicking in case Bandit A has talked. You then search the house of Bandit b. Even if you find nothing, you arrest him. You tell bandit B that Bandit A has been chatting away. So bandit B gets vex and starts to talk. Meanwhile, you go after bandit C. All the other gang members now are panicking as it looks like they've been fingered. They take chances and try to remove evidence from their houses, but police are watching and catch them red handed.
You could actually release bandit A without charge, but the rest of the gang is lock up.
I'm hoping this is the kind of plan they have and over the next week we will see a dramatic rise in arrests and the collection of evidence. If thats the case, I will accept the SOE as a good move.
Ah missin serious limin here, so ah hope it ent no waste a time.
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My thinking is that since somebody lorse dey consignment the other day..the SOE would the perfect cover to bring in 3 or 4 more stash....just my thinking...... but I like conspiracy theories......
U maybe on 2 someting
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d coke passin increase becuz issa big big big big fish that hav free reign on d borders now. i wonder who that cud be...
Well they did not buy the Offshore Patrol Vessels .....
D lady did say we fightin crime on d ground
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Hmmmm. So the picture getting clearer.
Preacher so d mighty US have 2 tell we what 2 do. Evrybody and dey brudder know we is a transhipment pt. D old Burroughs was charged for reciving drugs in Carli Bay back in d day. Carli Bay not a hot spot it eh under curfew.
Not 2 mention d Newsday get d scoop? I wonder if Ken ALi give dem?
MAYBE OUR PRIME Minister had no idea we were a MAJOR transhipment point .. this was new intelligence to her and the AG an this this used to go on so she call a SOE
"The Prime Minister was also advised by US intelligence agencies that TT needed to deal swiftly with the illegal trafficking because the country was nearing a crisis as guns were being smuggled into communities to gangs fighting over drug turfs, resulting in persons being killed. There was also concern about the trafficking of drugs to the US. Newsday understands officials from the US Department of Homeland Security. On Wednesday, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan admitted that this country was able to avert a national crisis with the declaration of a state of emergency but he declined to give further details."
He said emergency measures came after the recent seizure of $22 million in cocaine but warned that the operation had deeper implications, and had averted further trafficking of an estimated $100 million in illegal narcotics.
OR HOR :idea:
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It seems to be (and I prepared to be corrected) that usually you need some kind of solid evidence to justify a magistrate issuing a search warrant. Now everyone keeps saying that the police know who the crims and Mr Bigs are, but clearly, can't obtain evidence. This is not unusual anywhere in the world. How many mafia dons are known in the US, but can't be prosecuted? How many MR Bigs in UK are known? By instigating the SOE, police can go in and arrest the suspects, search for some evidence (no matter how small) and arrest. Once under arrest, you have a real chance of obtaining information. In fact, you hold all the cards.
Imagine you search the house of Bandit A who you know is in a gang. You arrest bandit A. Next night, Bandit A's krew are panicking in case Bandit A has talked. You then search the house of Bandit b. Even if you find nothing, you arrest him. You tell bandit B that Bandit A has been chatting away. So bandit B gets vex and starts to talk. Meanwhile, you go after bandit C. All the other gang members now are panicking as it looks like they've been fingered. They take chances and try to remove evidence from their houses, but police are watching and catch them red handed.
You could actually release bandit A without charge, but the rest of the gang is lock up.
I'm hoping this is the kind of plan they have and over the next week we will see a dramatic rise in arrests and the collection of evidence. If thats the case, I will accept the SOE as a good move.
Ah missin serious limin here, so ah hope it ent no waste a time.
You don't need no evidence... just probable cause, which could be based on evidence, or based on reliable information from an informant, from police observation etc. Under the SoE they still need "reasonable suspicion" which is a slightly lower threshold than PC... but somehow I doubt them police even bothering. Is free reign they getting... so leh we see what all ah dis yields in 10 days. All these mass arrests doing is clogging up already overcrowded jails and bogging down an overburdened judiciary. It will take a very long time for all these cases to be sorted out... enough time for the PP to cook up some rationale to justify the SoE after the fact.
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Remember during the last election coke was found in one of the politicians water tank , whatever became of that ? I never heard anything about that matter ,somebody shed some light here.
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Remember during the last election coke was found in one of the politicians water tank , whatever became of that ? I never heard anything about that matter ,somebody shed some light here.
That was a plant...steups...
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Remember during the last election coke was found in one of the politicians water tank , whatever became of that ? I never heard anything about that matter ,somebody shed some light here.
That was a plant...steups...
You are right it comes from the coca plant,ent dats wat yuh mean. ;D
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Remember during the last election coke was found in one of the politicians water tank , whatever became of that ? I never heard anything about that matter ,somebody shed some light here.
That was a plant...steups...
You are right it comes from the coca plant,ent dats wat yuh mean. ;D
that was in Sadiq Baskh thank right?
what he up to these days btw
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Remember during the last election coke was found in one of the politicians water tank , whatever became of that ? I never heard anything about that matter ,somebody shed some light here.
That was a plant...steups...
You are right it comes from the coca plant,ent dats wat yuh mean. ;D
that was in Sadiq Baskh thank right?
what he up to these days btw
He just got arrested at the Hyatt :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
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I think we have to conclude that part of the "crime plan" is to take as many suspected gang members off the streets for as long as possible and see a massive drop in the crime rate a la Jamaica.
This will be achieved partly by the curfew (no crimes being comitted this week) and partly by detaining the suspects for as long as possible. as many as 50% may be released without charge due to lack of evidence, but in the meantime, a few hundred known troublemakers will be off the streets, thus assisting the falling crime rates.
My concern is that, as with every major arrest, there is always a void to be filled. People will still want drugs. These bandits out of work for two weeks will still need to steal to buy food and gas. Gang members will want to assert their new positions and relaliate against informers.
The only real soloution, if the PP really want to keep a long term lid on crime, is to continue the SOE and curfew. They could cancel the curfew and keep the SOE, thus retaining the stronger powers, but the curfew is the controlling influence thats keeping crime down.
Problem is, the economy and society cannot withstand a prolonged curfew. Plus, there will reach a time when arrest rates will fall and the curfew cannot be justified.
The conundrum is this. If they keep every citizen locked up after 9 pm, this place will be a crime free paradise....but who would want to live here? And anyway, those with criminal intent would eventually find a way of making illegal profits in the daytime.
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Ah hear is one Dole Chadee who Sadiq tek over from an meh fren tell meh it in the Indo culture,drugs an rum.My mudder tell dat she fadda had a pipe called a cheelam and he always was using de stuff.
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Ah hear is one Dole Chadee who Sadiq tek over from an meh fren tell meh it in the Indo culture,drugs an rum.My mudder tell dat she fadda had a pipe called a cheelam and he always was using de stuff.
you is ah massive cunnie! Maybe is becasue yuh parents were users as yuh saying...yuh fadder sperm was retarded and yuh mammy egg was cloudy from the chillum smoke...Yuh foggy brain fowl f**ker.
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Ah hear is one Dole Chadee who Sadiq tek over from an meh fren tell meh it in the Indo culture,drugs an rum.My mudder tell dat she fadda had a pipe called a cheelam and he always was using de stuff.
you is ah massive cunnie! Maybe is becasue yuh parents were users as yuh saying...yuh fadder sperm was retarded and yuh mammy egg was cloudy from the chillum smoke...Yuh foggy brain fowl f**ker.
My parents teach Dole Chadee and meh granpapa teach all dem Indian how to teef,drink,smoke and rob people,wait an see,Mr.Big is ah Indian. ;D ;D ;D ;D
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d coke passin increase becuz issa big big big big fish that hav free reign on d borders now. i wonder who that cud be...
Well they did not buy the Offshore Patrol Vessels .....
They shut down SUATT, out the spy agency, etc, etc.
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Ah hear is one Dole Chadee who Sadiq tek over from an meh fren tell meh it in the Indo culture,drugs an rum.My mudder tell dat she fadda had a pipe called a cheelam and he always was using de stuff.
you is ah massive cunnie! Maybe is becasue yuh parents were users as yuh saying...yuh fadder sperm was retarded and yuh mammy egg was cloudy from the chillum smoke...Yuh foggy brain fowl f**ker.
My parents teach Dole Chadee and meh granpapa teach all dem Indian how to teef,drink,smoke and rob people,wait an see,Mr.Big is ah Indian. ;D ;D ;D ;D
uh really feel dem poor ass beetham estate crooks is Mr. Big? Steups ah wonder where you does buy yuh hardware supplies?
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Hey TC what yuh think bout the Video the lil Trini gyul posted on on Facebook,she aint yuh dorta ;D is she,anyway is she a true reflection of some Trini yutes,what a little fool. :o
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My daughter is a dougla I does only breed indian girl.
How.does.dat make.you.feel?
There was.another.video too. I was in it with your girl.
Yuh see it?
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My daughter is a dougla I does only breed indian girl.
How.does.dat make.you.feel?
There was.another.video too. I was in it with your girl.
Yuh see it?
Now that kind ah talk is what I like to hear and if yuh remember sometime ago when I talked about"ethnic clensing"you call me a racist.I would like to see more inter-breeding between Indos and Afros in TT so that 50 years from now Douglas would be bigger in numbers,isn't that a kind of "ethnic clensing",but in a nice way.It may or may not be of interest to you but I have never had an Indian gyul,its not by choice but thats how tings go sometime,my girlfriend looks Dougla but her father is Afro Trini and mother from Eiretrea.I am pleased that you are doing something to change the people's thinking about race,there should be more like you,well done mate.
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Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean - The Case of Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Guyana", by Darius Figueira.
"The dominant race based illicit drug transshipping organisations/race groupings are:
The Syrian/Lebanese grouping. This grouping consists of crime families descended from Syrian and Lebanese immigrants to Trinbago and generations since born in Trinbago. ..The Syrian/Lebanese organisation has created a division of labour in which their illicit drug transshipping is masked by the legitimate front businesses and drug money laundering operations that pass for legitimate businesses.
...The Syrian/Lebanese organization was in the 1980s and 1990s heavily involved in the retailing of crack through Afro and Mixed Trinbagonians primarily in the East-West Corridor of Trinidad.
Crack retailing generated the cash flow for expansion in retailing and real estate speculation, which broke members of the group out of traditional pursuits as the importation, wholesaling and retailing of fabrics and garment production. In the late 1980s in Trinidad a number of illicit drug trafficking entrepreneurs had arisen moving product out of Trinidad to the rest of the Caribbean as the US Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, St.Maarten, Europe and the US.
In the late 1980s a turf war developed between these Afro-Trinbagonian independent illicit drug traffickers and the Syrian/Lebanese organisation.
In the early 1990s this conflict would escalate into open turf warfare and the Syrian/Lebanese organisation provided the evidence to the DEA, British Customs and the illicit drug interdiction agency of the Netherlands to bring these nascent independent trafficking organisations down. Zimmern Beharry and Dole Chadee would be famous victims of the Syrian/Lebanese backlash but a series of Afro-Trinbagonian traffickers unknown to the wider public would be killed, feld from Trinbago or were imprisoned in the US, Britain and other members of the European Union for daring to challenge Syrian/Lebanese hegemony over illicit drug retailing in the East-West Corridor of Trinidad.
It is no coincidence that after the heady days of illicit drug interdiction and extradition of indicted traffickersto the US in the 1990s there has been no activity of this intensity in the early years of the 21st Century in Trinidad and Tobago.
There is no turf war between trans-shipping organisations and the Afro-Trinbagonian threat has been neuralized and the race put back in its place as consumers of illicit drugs and as corrupt state officials and politicians serving the interests of the illicit drug trade.
The Syrian/Lebanese organisation has always made sure that it cultivated and wielded influence over the political parties of Trinidad and Tobago.
It is organically tied to the PNM but it has ensured that it exerted some influence over parties which formed governments other than the PNM from 1986 to 1991 (NAR) and from 1995 to 2000, and 2000 to 2001 (UNC).
Its war against the Afro-Trinidadian independents prosecuted under the PNM government of 1991 to 1995 was continued and in fact expanded under the UNC government of 1995 to 2000, for it was under the UNC government that Zimmern Beharry was extradited to the US and Dole Chadee was hanged for murder.
Under the UNC 1995 to 2000 the new generation of money launderers and illicit drug traffickers of the Syrian/Lebanese organisation rose to positions within the stat sector and weilded political influence previously denied them under the preceding PNM regimes.
The UNC empowered a new generation within the Syrian/Lebanese organisation which influenced tensions within the organisation over succession of power that threatened to tear apart the organisation in public eyes for the first time ever in its careere in illiciet drug trafficking."
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Great read. Thanks for posting. Back when the world was young you never know all that stuff was going on.
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This is why it’s hard for me to take this SOE seriously until we see some of them big shot drug dealers go down!
But we all know that eh happening anytime soon as many are quite charming and are friends of and have influence over some of our police and politicians!
Ah wonder who these people think they fooling with this SOE if we doh see any of the real big boys go down!
Well they certainly not fooling me!!
The deep problems in our society today have been nurtured by many of these big drug dealers posing as decent business men with legitimate businesses to present as a front for what is really going down!
This is what greed and no love for your fellow Trinibagonian leads to!
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This is why it’s hard for me to take this SOE seriously until we see some of them big shot drug dealers go down!
But we all know that eh happening anytime soon as many are quite charming and are friends of and have influence over some of our police and politicians!
Ah wonder who these people think they fooling with this SOE if we doh see any of the real big boys go down!
Well they certainly not fooling me!!
The deep problems in our society today have been nurtured by many of these big drug dealers posing as decent business men with legitimate businesses to present as a front for what is really going down!
This is what greed and no love for your fellow Trinibagonian leads to!
And many of these "legitimate businessmen" bankrolled the election. They may not even consider themselves part of the drug trade anymore, but their businesses and houses were funded by drugs and the gangs they formed are still in place.
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This is why it’s hard for me to take this SOE seriously until we see some of them big shot drug dealers go down!
But we all know that eh happening anytime soon as many are quite charming and are friends of and have influence over some of our police and politicians!
Ah wonder who these people think they fooling with this SOE if we doh see any of the real big boys go down!
Well they certainly not fooling me!!
The deep problems in our society today have been nurtured by many of these big drug dealers posing as decent business men with legitimate businesses to present as a front for what is really going down!
This is what greed and no love for your fellow Trinibagonian leads to!
And many of these "legitimate businessmen" bankrolled the election. They may not even consider themselves part of the drug trade anymore, but their businesses and houses were funded by drugs and the gangs they formed are still in place.
True!!
Basically the government(s) has helped to create the very situation that we are now up against!
They are just as guilty as some of the gang members that they now seek to arrest!
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Whilst some of what he says might have some merit.
This guy's information should not be believed as gospel.
This man has said that Al Quaeda is funding drug running in Trinidad through a cell or cells, he writes for the biggest comic strip in TT the mirror.
Whilst he is university educated up to I think masters, it does not make what he writes as gosple. He converted to Islam in 1990 (Jamaat?)
For years we hearing about these Syrians/ Lebanese being the real king pins behind the drug trade in TT but I always wonder why the DEA never stepped in if the govt and police did nothing.
What's the reality?
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Whilst some of what he says might have some merit.
This guy's information should not be believed as gospel.
This man has said that Al Quaeda is funding drug running in Trinidad through a cell or cells, he writes for the biggest comic strip in TT the mirror.
Whilst he is university educated up to I think masters, it does not make what he writes as gosple. He converted to Islam in 1990 (Jamaat?)
For years we hearing about these Syrians/ Lebanese being the real king pins behind the drug trade in TT but I always wonder why the DEA never stepped in if the govt and police did nothing.
What's the reality?
Yeah I have no idea who he is but I was reading with a grain of salt.
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Reminds me of this story i read a while back
Syrian Trinis held with 'coke' at Heathrow
Posted By: News
Date: 31, March 04, at 3:05 p.m.
By FRANCIS JOSEPH, www.newsday.co.tt
In London
TWO young Trinidadians, of Syrian-Lebanese parentage, were arrested at Heathrow International Airport in London with cocaine. Yesterday, they were denied bail when they appeared in court. The accused were identified as Raymond Habib and Peter Laquis, both said to be in their twenties. According to reports, they were held at Heathrow International Airport on March 22 after disembarking from BWIA flight 900 from Trinidad. They were stopped and when searched, they allegedly had cocaine in their possession.
They were charged by British authorities with customs evasion, contrary to the laws of the United Kingdom. Yesterday, they appeared at the Uxbridge Magistrates' Court (located near Heathrow Airport) where an application was made for bail pending the hearing and determination of their case. But after hearing submissions, the magistrate denied bail and ordered both Habib and Laquis be kept in police custody until April 6. When contacted yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to London Glenda Morean-Phillip, said she knew about the arrest of the Trinidadians. Morean-Phillip said when nationals of TT get into trouble, the Commission is informed. "Yes, I was informed of the arrest of these two youngsters. Yes, I know there was a bond hearing today, but I am still awaiting details," the TT envoy informed Newsday.
Newsday also learned that last week, the family of the two youths had contacted Senior Counsel Desmond Allum, who was in England appearing with a large number of other attorneys in the death penalty appeal before the Privy Council. But Allum left for Trinidad yesterday, around the same time that Habib and Laquis were due to appear before the magistrate. A source told Newsday that Allum was contacted in London, but he made arrangements for a British attorney to represent the defendants at the bail hearing. The arrests of the Trinidadians are part of a large police operation in England, now on the lookout for terrorists. After disembarking from airlines, dogs sniff passengers on their way to the immigration lines. Other dogs are taken to the baggage areas to sniff for weapons, bombs and drugs.
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Reminds me of this story i read a while back
Syrian Trinis held with 'coke' at Heathrow
Posted By: News
Date: 31, March 04, at 3:05 p.m.
By FRANCIS JOSEPH, www.newsday.co.tt
In London
TWO young Trinidadians, of Syrian-Lebanese parentage, were arrested at Heathrow International Airport in London with cocaine. Yesterday, they were denied bail when they appeared in court. The accused were identified as Raymond Habib and Peter Laquis, both said to be in their twenties. According to reports, they were held at Heathrow International Airport on March 22 after disembarking from BWIA flight 900 from Trinidad. They were stopped and when searched, they allegedly had cocaine in their possession.
They were charged by British authorities with customs evasion, contrary to the laws of the United Kingdom. Yesterday, they appeared at the Uxbridge Magistrates' Court (located near Heathrow Airport) where an application was made for bail pending the hearing and determination of their case. But after hearing submissions, the magistrate denied bail and ordered both Habib and Laquis be kept in police custody until April 6. When contacted yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to London Glenda Morean-Phillip, said she knew about the arrest of the Trinidadians. Morean-Phillip said when nationals of TT get into trouble, the Commission is informed. "Yes, I was informed of the arrest of these two youngsters. Yes, I know there was a bond hearing today, but I am still awaiting details," the TT envoy informed Newsday.
Newsday also learned that last week, the family of the two youths had contacted Senior Counsel Desmond Allum, who was in England appearing with a large number of other attorneys in the death penalty appeal before the Privy Council. But Allum left for Trinidad yesterday, around the same time that Habib and Laquis were due to appear before the magistrate. A source told Newsday that Allum was contacted in London, but he made arrangements for a British attorney to represent the defendants at the bail hearing. The arrests of the Trinidadians are part of a large police operation in England, now on the lookout for terrorists. After disembarking from airlines, dogs sniff passengers on their way to the immigration lines. Other dogs are taken to the baggage areas to sniff for weapons, bombs and drugs.
This different.
2 stupid youths.
They hardly fit the profile as drug barons
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Reminds me of this story i read a while back
Syrian Trinis held with 'coke' at Heathrow
Posted By: News
Date: 31, March 04, at 3:05 p.m.
By FRANCIS JOSEPH, www.newsday.co.tt
In London
TWO young Trinidadians, of Syrian-Lebanese parentage, were arrested at Heathrow International Airport in London with cocaine. Yesterday, they were denied bail when they appeared in court. The accused were identified as Raymond Habib and Peter Laquis, both said to be in their twenties. According to reports, they were held at Heathrow International Airport on March 22 after disembarking from BWIA flight 900 from Trinidad. They were stopped and when searched, they allegedly had cocaine in their possession.
They were charged by British authorities with customs evasion, contrary to the laws of the United Kingdom. Yesterday, they appeared at the Uxbridge Magistrates' Court (located near Heathrow Airport) where an application was made for bail pending the hearing and determination of their case. But after hearing submissions, the magistrate denied bail and ordered both Habib and Laquis be kept in police custody until April 6. When contacted yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to London Glenda Morean-Phillip, said she knew about the arrest of the Trinidadians. Morean-Phillip said when nationals of TT get into trouble, the Commission is informed. "Yes, I was informed of the arrest of these two youngsters. Yes, I know there was a bond hearing today, but I am still awaiting details," the TT envoy informed Newsday.
Newsday also learned that last week, the family of the two youths had contacted Senior Counsel Desmond Allum, who was in England appearing with a large number of other attorneys in the death penalty appeal before the Privy Council. But Allum left for Trinidad yesterday, around the same time that Habib and Laquis were due to appear before the magistrate. A source told Newsday that Allum was contacted in London, but he made arrangements for a British attorney to represent the defendants at the bail hearing. The arrests of the Trinidadians are part of a large police operation in England, now on the lookout for terrorists. After disembarking from airlines, dogs sniff passengers on their way to the immigration lines. Other dogs are taken to the baggage areas to sniff for weapons, bombs and drugs.
This different.
2 stupid youths.
They hardly fit the profile as drug barons
fishes....everybody with sense knows that the Syrians are really just cloth barons...come now...
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Chadee and Beharry were fall guys *LINK*
Posted By: Flashback
Date: 9, June 05, at 10:41 p.m.
Chadee and Beharry were fall guys; media events for public consumption
"The Syrian organisation has always made sure that it cultivated and wielded influence over the political parties of TnT. It is organically tied to the PNM but it has ensured that it exerted some influence over the NAR and the UNC."
December 12, 2004
By David Millette email: davidmillette@tntmirror.com
DOLE CHADEE's fall from power was engineered by rival Syrian drug organisations.
This is the contention of author Daurius Figueira in his recently published book, Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in the Caribbean – The Case of TnT, Jamaica and Guyana.
A DEA official in Miami is also quoted as having come to this said conclusion about the role of the Syrians in the demise of Chadee.
Figueira, however, is also questioning the high status accorded to Chadee and Zimmern "Shortman" Beharry, in the drug world by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of the US.
According to him, Chadee and Beharry, who were identified as the bosses of the original Indo-Trinbagonian drug cartel, were, in fact, operating at the most insecure and risk-laden level of the business, which meant that they could not have been really big players in the drug world after all.
He quoted from an affidavit presented as evidence by US prosecutor, James R. Boma, in connection with the extradition to America hearing for Beharry, who was arrested by Trinidad police on May 28, 1996, for allegedly trafficking illicit drugs into the USA.
Boma's affidavit said: "Beharry and Chadee were heading a cartel, headquartered in San Fernando, which moved crack cocaine into Florida for the Cali Cartel of Columbia.
"The quantum of product moved by this cartel merited the launch in 1992 of 'Operation Crack Attack' aimed at this cartel.
"The trail of evidence commenced in 1991 when Carl Louis Hoi Pong, the ex-Board of Inland Revenue cashier, and Ronald Lee, unknowingly attempted to sell product to DEA agents in Florida.
"Beharry was placed in proximity to the area of the buy, and he subsequently fled the US for Trinidad.
"The seizure of 30 kilos of cocaine aboard the Hybur Intrepid, and the subsequent deals made with the convicted, placed Beharry as the architect of the operation ...
"Wayne Lalla, supposed chief lieutenant of Beharry, caught by US authorities in possession of illicit drugs in the US, agreed to finger Beharry as architect of a move to place 42 kilos of crack cocaine in the US."
Figueira also quoted Jerome Harris, of the DEA's Barbados office, as stating: "Chadee is one of the premier traffickers ... one of the most significant ...one of the smartest in the Eastern Caribbean.
"He had Columbian connections, and I think he used the Columbian cartel groups as sort of his models ... with the increase in the violence as his organisation became more successful, his attempts to influence high level officials, his attempts to expand his network into other countries."
But according to Figueira, based on Boma's affidavit, the modus operandi of Beharry's operation showed glaring weaknesses which allowed for penetration and eventual destruction.
"The first question hinges on the presence of Beharry in the vicinity of the Hoi Pong/Lee bust by the DEA, and Beharry's subsequent need to flee from the US," Figueira noted.
"As head of a trans-shipping cartel, you simply don't make mistakes as those made by Beharry.
"The second question deals with Beharry sending persons to accompany shipments who dealt with him on a personal basis and, by extension, capable of implicating him.
"The third question raises the issue that, according to the DEA, the cartel was moving predominantly crack cocaine into Florida."
Figueira asked: "Why move crack cocaine, a low value item compared to powdered 90 per cent pure, into the Florida wholesale market, which is almost always perpetually flooded with product sold at soft prices for Cali and Medellin cartels at that time?
"One can purchase 90 per cent pure powdered cocaine at around US$12,000 per kilo in times of product oversupply in Florida, especially Miami."
Figueira argued: "The issues raised by the questions articulated above, cast doubts upon the image of the Chadee-Beharry cartel as posited by the DEA.
"From the affidavit of Boma, it is clearly apparent that the so-called Chadee/Beharry cartel was operating at the most insecure and risk-laden level of the drug trafficking business in America.
"Beharry and his lieutenants were operating devoid of the protection afforded by strategic tie-ups in the geographic entity they chose to penetrate.
"They therefore formed cells consisting of Trinidadians in Florida who would receive the illicit drugs from persons who baby sat the drugs into the USA, and arranged the sale on the wholesale market.
"Given the enormity of the risks, they were forced to choose geographic areas where a Trinidadian community was present in sizeable numbers to afford them some measure of anonymity, such as Florida.
"Beharry was literally involved in the high-risk venture of creating a Trinidadian cartel in Florida, much like the way the Columbians created their own cartels in America in the late 1970s.
"But the Chadee/Beharry cartel had to be relatively inconspicuous, especially in the quantum of product moved, or in any moves to aggressively snatch retail turfs or crack blocks.
"The power of the entrenched cartels in Florida would have spelt the violent end of this Trinidadian transplant."
Figueira further contended: "One can never be convinced that the existing Florida cartels did not, in fact, finger the Chadee-Beharry operations to the DEA."
He insists that Chadee and his cohorts, like Beharry, were really independent dealers in the local narco-trafficking economy, and as such, they were made fall guys or sacrificial lambs; media events for public consumption.
"The politicians have declared war on the illicit drug trade and they need body counts to indicate their dedication to their holy task," Figueira added.
"The covert cartels, their allies in the State agencies, in conjunction with the politicians, have determined that the independents must be sacrificed in order that the covert (hybrid) cartels survive.
"The independents cartels have crumbled, but the Trinbagonian market continues to be awash in cocaine, high quality blow going at between TT $30,000 and $35,000 per kilo.
"The fact of the matter is that the local market continues to be supplied by the hybrid cartels that transship product to the US and Europe, and retail locally."
Figueira continued: "It is these hybrid cartels that utilised their military arm in 1991, to commence the turf wars within the industry by targeting the operations of the major independents in the local cocaine economy, i.e. the Dole Chadee cartel.
"The resultant tit-for-tat violence to protect product, turf, personnel and hegemony, resulted in the downfall of Chadee."
The book added: "In the late 1980s, a turf war developed between Afro-Trinbagonian independent illicit drug traffickers, and the Syrian/Lebanese organisation.
"In the early 1990s this conflict would escalate into open turf warfare, and the Syrians provided the evidence to the DEA, British Customs, and the illicit drug interdiction agency of the Netherlands, to bring these nascent independent trafficking organisations down.
"Beharry and Chadee would be famous victims of the Syrian backlash, but a series of Afro-Trinbagonian traffickers, unknown to the wider public, would be killed, fled from Trinbago, or were imprisoned in the US and Britain ... for daring to challenge Syrain/Lebanese hegemony over illicit drug retailing in the East-West Corridor.
"... the Syrian organisation and the US covert agencies launched a concerted assault ... which resulted in the imprisonment of the Ramdhanies of Cedros, the hanging of Chadee, and the extradition and imprisonment of Beharry."
Figueira quotes an interview with an unnamed DEA official in Miami -- carried in the Express in September, 1996 -- which supports his contention that the Syrian drug dealers assisted in the downfall of Chadee:
"TnT should not rest comfortably because Chadee was out of the way, because there are other drug dealers in this country who are just as big as Chadee, if not bigger.
"These dealers are hiding behind more legitimate businesses than Chadee has, and we have not dismissed the theory that the other cartels might not have contributed to Chadee's demise."
Figueira continued: "The Syrian organisation has always made sure that it cultivated and wielded influence over the political parties of TnT.
"It is organically tied to the PNM, but it has ensured that it exerted some influence over the NAR and the UNC.
"Its war against the Afro-Trinbagonian independents prosecuted under the PNM government of 1991 to 1995 was continued, and in fact expanded under the UNC government.
"For it was under the UNC government, Beharry was extradited to the US, and Chadee hanged for murder.
"Under the UNC, the new generation of money launderers and illicit drug traffickers of the Syrian organisation rose to positions within the State sector, and wielded political influence previously denied them under preceding PNM regimes.
"The UNC empowered a new generation within the Syrian organisation which influenced tensions within the organisation over succession of power, that threatened to tear apart the organisation in public eyes for the first time in its career in illicit drug trafficking."
http://www.tntmirror.com/sunday/2004/dec12/story01.htm
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Corrupt TnT politicians face US jail *LINK*
Posted By: News
Date: 6, December 05, at 1:47 a.m.
Corrupt TnT politicians face US jail
... if FBI arrests Syrian Mafia members
UNC financiers ISH GALBARANSINGH and
STEVE FERGUSON have been indicted in
the US on serious non-drug charges, but
no TnT politician is as yet carded to face
charges in America.
By Darius Figueira, tntmirror.com
FBI DIRECTOR Robert S. Mueller III visited Trinbago on October 25, 2005 and since then the assault on the People’s National Movement (PNM) Government’s handling of the present criminal insurgency articulated through Arab, local White and French Creole spokespersons has ceased.
Clearly, these groups have returned to the PNM fold that has given them succour from 1956 to the present.
What was then the message that Mueller brought from the Washington beltway that reasserted their allegiance to the PNM, thereby ending their rebellion?
The murder rate is now in territory never experienced before in Trinbagonian history and Cadiz has gone silent.
The FBI Director visited The Dominican Republic (DR) on the October 24, 2005, which meant that Mueller visited the two command and control centres for the illicit drug trade in the Caribbean, in two consecutive days of the same week.
DR1 news reported on Mueller’s visit to the Dominican Republic as follows: “Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Robert S. Mueller III offered his co-operation to the Dominican authorities yesterday in the fight against public corruption, drug trafficking, people smuggling, terrorism, and violent crime.”
DR1 also reported on Mueller’s statements whilst in the Dominican Republic as follows: “He said that intelligence institutions in both countries have performed joint investigations into drug trafficking and people smuggling.
“Also, there have been several cases of people trying to enter the US who were found to be involved with terrorist groups.”
Judging by Mueller’s public statements on his visit to the DR and Trinbago, it is clear that FBI involvement in the policing of both states is driven by US strategic interests in the Caribbean.
The FBI is not then involved in the DR and Trinbago to prop up ruling parties but, in fact, to exert leverage and pressure to ensure that the governments of the DR and Trinbago toe the Washington line.
The primary flashpoints in Washington’s relations with the DR and Trinbago are President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela; Haiti comes a distant second.
The DR has signed on to Petro Caribe and given the negative impact high energy prices are having on the DR’s economy, the DR runs the risk of becoming heavily dependent on Venezuelan energy.
Trinbago’s energy economy and the strategic supply of LNG to the US means that the US is ever wary of Chavez’ energy agenda and its impact on Trinbago’s energy economy.
Mueller’s talk is then simply using the criminal insurgencies of the DR and Trinbago as leverage to ensure the compliance of the DR and Trinbago with US interests.
What then are the cards that the agencies of the US State hold on the politicians of Trinbago to ensure their compliance with US dictates?
The Syrian, Indian, Anglo Saxon, French Creole and Chinese illicit drug traffickers became traffickers of renown when they became employees of the Medellin cartel led by Pablo Escobar.
With the destruction of the Medellin cartel, the Trinbagonian race cartels attached themselves to a fledgling Colombian cartel, named the Valle Norte cartel that grew into the dominant cartel of the Colombian illicit drug trade.
As the fortunes of the Valle Norte cartel grew, so did the size, resources and power of the local employees of the Valle Norte cartel. The Syrians became a trans-Caribbean trafficking cartel with operations spanning the Caribbean Basin including Central America. The trans-Caribbean Syrian cartel would absorb the local and Caribbean operations of the Anglo Saxon cartel effectively forming the most formidable crime family in the Caribbean Basin.
The trans-Caribbean Syrian cartel effectively operates in the DR, Trinbago, Jamaica, Haiti, Guyana, Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Maarten, Curacao, Aruba and the French Departments.
The Valle Norte cartel and its operations are then the present basis of the wealth and power of the Syrian cartel, but the US and the Uribe government of Colombia have begun to dismantle the said cartel, as already two of its leaders have been extradited from Colombia to New York city, where grand jury indictments for illicit drug trafficking into the US were issued.
There is now a clear and present danger that the US can now have these leaders of the Valle Norte cartel give up prosecutable evidence to have members of the Syrian cartel extradited to the US for illicit drug trafficking into the US.
Furthermore, said prosecutable evidence can be supplied to members of the EU for the extradition of Syrian cartel members to member states of the EU for illicit drug trafficking to these countries.
This reality is the most potent, clear and present danger to all politicians of Trinbago, who have and are consorting with the Syrian cartel.
These politicians run the risk of being politically destroyed anytime the US sees fit.
Corrupt politicians must then toe the US line or face a US jail.
The grand jury investigation in Miami into Calmaquip over alleged involvement with the illicit drug trade is the lesson of the moment for the politicians of Trinbago.
The US and Colombian authorities brought down a relatively minor cartel, the Vargas cartel, which in no way measured up to the size and scale of Valle Norte, and in the course of the deal making and the giving up of information to US authorities, Calmaquip and the construction of the Piarco Airport was revealed.
These revelations by members of the Vargas cartel has led to a grand jury investigation involving Calmaquip, the Piarco Airport project and drug money laundering for the Vargas cartel through the project. The UNC can be negatively impacted.
Two of its financiers, top businessmen Ish Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson, have recently been indicted in the US in connection with serious allegations.
(Of course, there are no allegations of drug dealings by Ish and Steve).
The US has in the past utilised such information for its foreign policy agenda.
Therefore, politicians who are recalcitrant in the face of US demands can find themselves indicted by a grand jury, whilst those who toe the line live forever with the US axe over their heads.
As some politicians already do in Trinbago.
The danger is then posed by persons indicted and extradited to the US singing to save themselves.
Can the corrupt politicians of Trinbago be assured that with the extradition of a member of the Syrian or Indian or Chinese cartels to the US or Britain, that person would not sing like a semp to save themselves, thereby sinking the politicians.
That is why the politicians do all in their power to keep the US happy and dominant to ensure the safety of themselves and their drug overlords.
And that is why the victims of the illicit drug trade, the Africans and Mixed breed peoples of Trinbago, are now being made out to be the villains of the peace.
They have created the profile of the villain as the young urban African and Mixed breed male armed with a 9mm dressed in a three-quarter pants a vest and basketball shoes.
These persons are now the targets, and the policing agencies are waging war on persons that fit this profile.
The symptoms of the disease are now the causes of the disease.
As long as the symptoms are assaulted, the disease runs unchecked. The people of Trinbago must now understand that the criminal insurgency is as a result of the illicit drug and gun trade.
The criminal insurgency can never be defeated as long as the illicit trade thrives, and the politicians cannot end this trade because they sleep with the drug and gun lords.
The shaitan cannot forgive sin.
http://www.tntmirror.com/sunday/2005/dec04/story06.htm
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Trinidad and Tobago
Angélica Durán Martínez
Fulbright Scholar, MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, New York University
1. With high rates of economic growth and decreasing unemployment, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has been called a Caribbean ‘tiger’ (The Economist, 2006), awash with money and investment from the liquefied natural gas boom. Prime Minister Patrick Manning has launched Vision 2020, a policy strategy which calls for T&T to acquire developed country status by 2020.
However, an incipient deterioration in the quality of services provided by the state coupled with very high corruption levels point to the difficulty of translating economic wealth and macroeconomic stability into institutional capacities, especially those needed to confront expanding crime and corruption.
The diverse racial composition of T&T makes it vulnerable to polarisation, and its particular geographic location makes it vulnerable to international criminal networks which can build contacts with each ethnic community. Thus, there is significant potential for democratic institutions to be eroded by:
I. The increase in crime and the influence of international crime networks;
II. The impact of ethnic politics on the functioning of the State and the political parties;
III. The difficulties of translating outstanding economic growth into state capacity.
These conditions are described below in sections I, II, and III. Sections IV, V, and VI, review respectively the legal framework for campaign funding, the social response to existing laws and social advocacy for reform and the recent incidence of corruption and illegal funding.
I. The increase in crime and the influence of international crime networks
2. Trinidad and Tobago is a transit point for illicit drugs, mainly cocaine, and increasingly heroin. The nation’s advanced petrochemical sector requires the import/export of precursor chemicals that can be diverted for the manufacturing of cocaine hydrochloride (International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2004, US Dept of State, 2006). The proximity of Venezuela is a crucial element that facilitates the transit of drugs (Crime, Law & Social Change, 2001) with the Venezuelan Tucupita cartel believed to be the main connection between Trinidadian and Colombian drug cartels. Additionally other criminal organisations from Syria, China and Russia allegedly operate in the country.
3. T&T is among the ten countries in the world with the highest kidnapping rates. Kidnappings have increased from 10 in 2001 to more than 150 in 2004 (Erikson, 2005). The nature of the phenomenon is not clearly defined, but it involves conflicts between gangs and drug cartels, as well as economic incentives (ransoms). Also complex is the nature and activities of the group Jamaat al Muslimeen, which has been linked to kidnappings and explosions. Its leader, Abu Bakr, will shortly be tried on charges of sedition and terrorism.1
1 Abu Bakr, leader of Jamaat al Muslimeen, led a 1990 coup attempt against the Government. Enmeshed in a number of public controversies, he was exonerated in December 2006 in a case of conspiracy to murder, but will shortly be on trial again on charges of incitement of violence, sedition and terrorism (Miami Herald, 24/12/06).
4. Murder rates have increased from 7.6 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2002 to 30.7 in 2005 with a sharp increase in gang and drug-related murders (Hood, 2006). According to the Minister of National Security, Fitzgerald Hinds, 60 percent of all serious crimes are related to the illicit drug trade.
5. The circulation of small arms has a growing impact on murder rates, as gun-related deaths have increased from 31 percent in 1998 to 61 percent in 2001. Furthermore, the proportion of gang-related killings committed by shooting increased from 7 out of 10 in 1998 to nearly 9 out of 10 in 2002 (Hood, 2006).
6. Wars between gangs for territorial control have increased. Like in other Caribbean islands and in Central America, the deportation of criminals from the US has impacted the composition of gangs, as 65 percent of deportees from the US to T & T have criminal records (DHS, 2004).
7. The recent natural gas boom has increased the importance of T&T as a destination for human trafficking. Women from neighbouring islands are trafficked for exploitation within a growing sex tourism industry. Other victims transit through Trinidad into other Caribbean islands such as St. Lucia (IOM, 2005), the US and Europe.
8. According to the US Department of State, T&T is a ‘monitored location’ for money laundering activities. Such classification means that even though the extent of money laundering is limited, it is facilitated by non-banking financial institutions (currency exchange houses), unregulated casino networks and the uncontrolled expansion of real estate holdings.
II. The impact of ethnic politics on the functioning of the State and political parties
9. Like most English-speaking Caribbean states, politics in T&T has been dominated by two parties, namely, the Peoples National Movement (PNM) and the United National Congress (UNC).2 Political identity is strongly determined by ethnicity:3 the PNM is identified with those of Afro-creole descent, while the UNC is identified with those of Indian descent. In 2001 when parliamentary seats were evenly distributed between the PNM and the UNC, political gridlock ensued. In 2003, a swing of voters from the UNC to the PNM allowed the reappointment of Patrick Manning as Prime Minister, ending congressional gridlock and showing that there are instances in which voters cross ethnic lines. Differences between the East Indian and the Afro-Trinidadian Muslim minorities also contribute to political fragmentation (Zambelis, 2006).
10. Bipartisan dominance is both a source of democratic stability and an obstacle for the success of third parties. Over time, parties and elections have been more volatile than in Jamaica, for instance, but the influence of independents has been limited. One example of the resistance of the system to third parties is the experience of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) which emerged in 1986 as an alliance between small movements including the Tobagonian Democratic Action Congress (DAC) and the larger United Labor Front (the base of the UNC). The Prime Minister between 1986 and 1991, Napoleon Robinson, was from the NAR. In 1988 the NAR and the UNC broke their alliance and the
2 Founded in 1988, the UNC is an extension of the United Labour Front.
3 According to the World Bank, the population breakdown is approximately 39.6 percent of African origin, 40.3 percent of East-Indian origin, 14 percent mixed (French, Spanish, English, Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Portuguese, Venezuelan) and 1 percent Chinese.
NAR remained as an important source of independent votes which decided the appointment of the UNC’s Basdeo Panday in 1995 as the first Indo-Trinidadian Prime Minister in history. However, NAR’s electoral power almost disappeared at the national level in 2000, and at the regional level in Tobago in 2005.
11. Ethnic-based politics and bipartisan dominance has made political leaders unaccountable as they are able to control the electoral system even when facing corruption charges or in the wake of internal party conflicts. For example, in 2001 the UNC expelled its Deputy Leader and former Attorney General, Ramesh Maharaj, for having started an investigation into Panday and some of his supporters for allegedly diverting money from the National Lotteries Control Board. The investigation was blamed for contributing to the defeat of the UNC in 2002 elections. Maharaj set up his own party (National Team Unity) but it failed to win seats. In 2005 Panday invited Maharaj to rejoin the UNC. In part as a consequence of this decision, the UNC split again and the party leader, Winston Bookeran, floated the possibility of forming a new party. Reflecting the country’s entrenched political structures, Panday referred to Bookeran’s plan as follows, ‘the political system in Trinidad and Tobago has always contained and can only contain two political parties. The best example of that was when the NAR formed a political party and got 91,000 votes and not a single seat. That is what is going to happen to Mr. Bookeran, I have no doubt’.
12. Ethnicity is often used to explain increased crime or conversely to avoid prosecution. (See Section VI). Indo-Trinidadians often blame crime on Afro-Trinidadians and vice versa. Ethnic-based politics can also undermine the responsiveness and unity of politicians when facing serious national developments. After a series of bombings in 2005 in an area considered a PNM stronghold, Abu Bakr, leader of Jamaat al Muslimeen, was questioned as a suspect and claimed that the UNC was linked to the bombings. The fact that Prime Minister Manning (PNM) did not publicly refute the possibility that the attacks could be linked to the opposition party caused outrage in the UNC.
III. The difficulties of translating economic growth into increased state capacity
13. T&T has impressive social indicators compared with the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean (WB, 1998) and it has one of the highest rates of economic growth in Latin America, namely, 6 percent in 2005 (IDB, 2005). However, the recent deterioration in political indicators and in the quality of basic social services such as health and education point to a gap between economic growth and institutional capacities.
14. T& T has fallen from 31st place in 2001 to 61st in 2005 in the ranking of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. World Bank’s Governance Indicators for the country, especially those for political stability and rule of law, have also deteriorated since 2002. The competitiveness data from the World Economic Forum also illustrate the gap that separates business and economic performance from political and institutional performance: T&T ranks 83rd out of 117 countries on the public institutions variable of the index, while it ranks 40th in macroeconomic and business variables. The prevalence of organised crime, lack of judicial independence, and corruption are elements that contribute to the overall deterioration of the Global Competitiveness Index (Global Economic Forum, 2005).
15. Inefficiency in the judicial system in dealing with criminal cases is the most visible sign of the deteriorating institutional capacities. According to a recent analysis (Hood, 2005) it takes more than two years to take a murder case to the High Court. Less than a quarter of the cases where there is a suspect are solved, and gang and drug-related murders have FRIDE Comment, May 2007 3/7
Trinidad and Tobago
Angélica Durán Martínez
the highest rates of impunity (70 percent). Similarly, judicial charges in high profile cases are often dismissed, such as those of Barry Alphonse, leader of the Gambino gang, and Abu Bakr, leader of Jamaat al Muslimeen.
16. The performance of T&T’s police forces has been mixed. While specialised units such as the Police Drug Unit are perceived to be effective and enjoy wide public support, there have been cases of police officers apprehended in connection with illicit activities, while rank and file police are perceived as easily corruptible (Bartilow, 2003; Freedom House, 2006).
17. A poll conducted in 2005 by the New York-based firm NACTA, showed that crime is perceived by the public in T&T to be the main problem in the country (43 percent), followed by racial tensions (21 percent), corruption (18 percent), and the economy (11 percent). In this context, public protest against corruption – what is called the first generation or the base of anti-corruption reforms – is just starting to emerge in T&T (Trinidad Guardian, 2005).
18. As a consequence of relatively low corruption awareness, the public perception is that weak sanctions against crime, rather than law enforcement problems, are the main issue to be tackled. Therefore, the public is increasingly supportive of ‘heavy-handed’ measures and sanctions, such as the use of hangings. Public demand has contributed to increased levels of militarisation since 1998 (BICC),4 and this has had a negative impact on human rights standards. According to the US Department of State, in 2005 there were reports of ‘police killings during apprehension and deaths of persons while in custody, poor prison conditions and reports of police and guard abuse of prisoners’. However, research shows that the death penalty has rarely been applied in T&T; that it has been used arbitrarily and not in the gravest cases, and that, contrary to the views of its supporters, it has not proved to be a deterrent against serious crime (Hood, 2005).
IV. Legal Framework for campaign funding
Contents of the law
19. The Representation of the Peoples Ordinance and its last amendment in 2000 provide the legal framework for party funding.
20. Candidates and their agents are responsible for campaign finances. Regulations do not focus on parties.
21. There are no provisions for public funding or media access.
22. Limits on expenditures: Candidates and their agents are allowed to spend a maximum of US$ 8,000 in parliamentary elections and US$ 4,000 in local elections.
23. Limits on private contributions: The maximum permitted contribution (in kind and cash) is US$ 813 for general elections.
24. Disclosure and accountability: Parties must present expenditure reports to the Chief Elections Officer. Reports have to be published by the electoral authority in the mass media 21 days after the election results are announced.
25. Sanctions: Failure to file reports is punishable with a fine of US$ 250 and 6 months in prison, false declarations are fined with US$ 500 and 12 months in prison.
Shortcomings of the legal framework
26. Limits on contributions are unrealistic and the limit on campaign expenditures ‘bears no relation to what is actually spent’ (Ryan, 2004). Even though reports are issued, they are not effectively reviewed as it is pre-supposed that they do not reflect reality. The lack of real controls enables politicians to raise funds in the name of their party but to use these funds for other purposes. Some analysts report that campaigning at the local level is done by persons with no ideological affinity to the party and who expect to be paid (Ryan, 2004). Similarly, voters expect to be paid to cast their vote. Thus, campaign costs are mounting as is the pressure to find funds.
27. In general, freedom of the media is widespread and opposition can be easily voiced in the media. However, the lack of access to free media spots, or of regulations on media use, contributes to increasing campaign costs and reinforces exclusionary tendencies. The closure of the state-owned media, the ‘National Broadcasting Network’, in January 2004 had two opposing effects in terms of party access to media: on the one hand it deepened the negative effect of inexistent regulations on private media, on the other hand, it reduced news coverage biased towards incumbent governments which previously took advantage of access to the state network for campaign purposes.
28. Foreign contributions are not regulated; the diaspora contributes to the funding of political campaigns.
Recent advances
29. The Prime Minister’s policy strategy, Vision 2020, acknowledges that effective government, transparency and good governance are crucial issues to address if T&T is to acquire developed country status by 2020.
V. Social Response to Existing Laws and Social Advocacy for Reform
30. In 2002, the Constitutional Reform Forum launched a signature campaign to gather support for a constitutional reform which would address campaign finance reform as one of five key issues. Although the proposal did not become an actual reform, this group continues to be very active in advocating for constitutional reforms. In general, falling approval rates for institutions such as the police, the judiciary and political parties suggest that the population is starting to perceive corruption as a serious problem.
31. The T&T Chapter of Transparency International has been advocating for reform, but its lack of a permanent office, added to budgetary constraints, have limited its impact.
VI. Recent incidence of corruption and illegal funding
32. There has been no proven case of illicit resources being used in political campaigns for the funding of political parties in T&T. However, in the last decade several high-level officials have been accused of corruption and of having direct links with criminal organisations. In 2002, the French organisation Association d’Études Géopolitiques des Drogues, released a report alleging that members of Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s cabinet (PNM) had direct links with criminal groups (Chinese, Indian, and Venezuelancartels) and drug-trafficking. Although some of the Ministers mentioned in the report are currently facing corruption charges, the drug-related issues have not been addressed.
33. Several allegations in recent years have pointed to links between private sector contributions to campaigns and irregular procurement, including preferential treatment in large infrastructure projects. Basdeo Panday was accused (but not convicted) of accepting a bribe from a cabinet colleague and a businessman in relation to a multimillion construction project for a new terminal at T&T’s International Airport. In 2000, nine Ministers were investigated for fraud in this case. In 2006, former PNM chairman and Member of Parliament Franklin Khan faced 10 corruption charges, among them, receiving cash from a PNM Councillor in return for granting him lucrative Government anti-seismic projects. Similar charges were made against the Energy Minister, Eric Williams.
34. Ethnic politics often come into play as forces which obstruct the effective enforcement of regulations and cast doubt on judicial decisions, even if they are fair. In 2005 former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday was arrested on corruption charges. Many supporters reacted to Panday’s arrest by gathering at the UNC party headquarters and complaining about racial abuse. In 2006 Satnarine Sharma, the country’s top Chief Justice, was accused of trying to squash a prosecution process against Panday. In April 2006 Panday was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for failing to include a London bank account in the declaration of his assets. Public opinion regarding Sharma’s guilt is split along racial lines, with most Indo-Trinidanians supporting him and arguing that he is a victim of machinations by PM Manning to undermine his credibility.
VII. Conclusions
35. The geographic location of T&T makes it a strategic place for the operation of several international criminal networks. Unlike the situation in other Caribbean countries or Central America, in T&T Colombian and Mexican cartels interact with Chinese and Venezuelan cartels, creating increasing opportunities for bribery, as reflected in the accusations that link politicians with criminals from different organisations.
36. Furthermore, ethnic divisions strongly influence the way public opinion reacts to corruption scandals. Politicians often exploit these divisions while attempting to shield themselves from accusations of wrong-doing. This dynamic can be expected to complicate the enforcement of any future party funding reform initiatives.
37. Illegal political funding and the irregular awarding of bids, especially multi-million dollar contracts for infrastructure projects, appear to be closely linked and associated with individuals at the highest levels of Government authority.
38. Positive trends are emerging, such as the Government itself advocating greater transparency in its Vision 2020 policy and political figures such as opposition leader Winston Bookeran and former Attorney General Glenda Morean starting to call for transparency and legal reforms. Emerging smaller parties are also advocating improvement in these areas although their lack of parliamentary representation reduces the probability of broad anti-corruption reforms being enacted in the short term.
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I wonder what inspired this thread :devil:.
Curiously, this linkage seemingly exists elsewhere.
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Russian mafia in T&T too?!!! that martinez woman look like she do serious research but ah hope she wrong on da one
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Russian mafia in T&T too?!!! that martinez woman look like she do serious research but ah hope she wrong on da one
Why won't it be true...now they don't even need a visa...that helps passage considerably!!! Think about it.
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I wonder what inspired this thread :devil:.
Curiously, this linkage seemingly exists elsewhere.
You way too bright for me..I doh speak cryptic..so feel free to translate for plebs like me sometimes.
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I wonder what inspired this thread :devil:.
Curiously, this linkage seemingly exists elsewhere.
You way too bright for me..I doh speak cryptic..so feel free to translate for plebs like me sometimes.
When Anand comes calling I would prefer to have him decipher what was meant. Buh jes fuh you nah ... some ah de same people are allegedly in de same mix in other countries in Central and South America and well, our neighbouring islands. Curious thing that.
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When you see Anand, tell him he mammy.cyat hole for me
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When you see Anand, tell him he mammy.cyat hole for me
I can introduce you to him if you wish... he's a cousin.
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I eh.want to meet him just give.him.dee.message
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http://pdfcast.org/pdf/scott-drug-report
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Interesting how history repeats itself. Check page 98
http://books.google.com/books?id=mYKfc-tqhwEC&pg=PA173&dq=%22scott+drug+report%22+%2B+names&hl=en&ei=COleTsDSOIGEtgf9mtCmCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22scott%20drug%20report%22%20%2B%20magistrates&f=false (http://books.google.com/books?id=mYKfc-tqhwEC&pg=PA173&dq=%22scott+drug+report%22+%2B+names&hl=en&ei=COleTsDSOIGEtgf9mtCmCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22scott%20drug%20report%22%20%2B%20magistrates&f=false)
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This movie remind me of french connection you cant ketch the big man , he is to slippery or who knows what .
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This movie remind me of french connection you cant ketch the big man , he is to slippery or who knows what .
good flick. same scene in "the wire" - no body coulda ketch "the greek". he always a few steps ahead.
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COCAINE WAR.
By Nalinee Seelal (Newsday)
Wed, Sept, 7, 2011
Government stopped a bloody cocaine war between Colombian and Mexican drug leaders in this country which threatened numerous lives by calling the sudden state of emergency on August 21.
According to well-placed intelligence sources, Colombian and Mexican drug dealers who have been fighting for drug turf locally were set to go on a bloodbath, following the seizure of cocaine worth $22 million at Piarco International Airport on August 16, five days before the declaration of the state of emergency.
Officers of the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB) carried out a sting operation and detained a 19-year-old Arima man and seized two suitcases containing cocaine, packaged neatly in plastic bags. The cocaine weighed 53.926 kilogrammes and was found concealed in a blue blanket.
The suspect worked as a Servis Air employee and was charged for drug trafficking on August 19. He was denied bail. Up to yesterday he was being questioned by both local and United States (US) authorities about the origin of the drugs. The man has since indicated that he is fearful for his life and the safety of his family.
The cocaine reportedly belongs to a Colombian drug dealer whose associates are reported to be in this country with the intention of executing Mexican drug lords based here and an Aranjuez drug dealer who works for the Mexicans. The Aranjuez drug dealer reportedly tipped off the police about the suitcases of cocaine which were to be shipped to the US. Both the Colombians and Mexicans reportedly entered the country by boat with sophisticated weapons.
The recipient of the cocaine has reportedly gone into hiding but is now being sought by US authorities who are working closely with OCNFB officers.
Yesterday a source at the OCNFB told Newsday that the police are making inroads into this investigation and more will be revealed shortly.
However, intelligence sources said that when they were informed that both Colombian and Mexican drug lords were in the country, US authorities advised that the borders be placed under lockdown and that the state of emergency be put in place.
Newsday understands that the Colombians came to this country to deal specifically with the Mexicans and the local drug lord for tipping off the police on the whereabouts of their drugs and if this had occurred many many lives would have been lost.
Yesterday sources revealed that the Colombians and Mexicans are reportedly hiding out in this country and the state of emergency is geared at finding those persons to prevent any bloodshed.
According to sources, Trinidad and Tobago (TT) is a major transhipment point for drugs which are exported to North American countries.
The Colombians reportedly controlled the local drug turf for several years but the Mexicans have infiltrated this country which has resulted in drug lords from those two countries warring with each other.
Last Thursday, officers of the OCNFB and the Coast Guard raided a boat in La Brea at at about 1.40 am and seized cocaine in suitcases valued at $3.2 million.
Two Trinidadians, a Colombian and Venezuelan were arrested in that exercise, however up to yesterday no details were given on the status of the four held.
However local intelligence agencies believe that the cocaine found on the boat also belonged to the Colombian drug lord as information about the shipment was supplied to the police and Coast Guard by the Aranjuez dealer, who got the tipoff from the Mexicans.
This has further angered the Colombians who sources revealed are intent on executing the Mexicans and local drug lords responsible for their drugs being seized.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister announced that the state of emergency will be extended for another three months and Newsday understands that this was done to prevent any bloodbath from taking place in the country.
Yesterday Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley said he was informed while in Parliament on Saturday by Government persons that the real reason for the state of emergency was to prevent a war between a Colombian gang and a Trinidadian gang over the $22 million drug bust at Piarco. Attempts by Newsday to reach Rowley on the matter proved futile.
However, at yesterday’s media briefing on security matters, Minister of National Security Brigadier John Sandy when questioned if there is any truth to Rowley’s claims said, “Well I did not hear the Opposition Leader, I don’t know who told him that.”
Asked further if he knew anything about this matter involving a Colombian drug lord and a local drug lord Sandy said, “I’d rather not comment on that at this time.”
Recently, the US has been working closely with Colombian authorities to deal specifically with Mexican drug dealers who have infiltrated Colombia to set up a lucrative drug trade.
A report from Reuters stated, “A criminal gang capable of smuggling ten tonnes of cocaine a month for Mexico’s bloody Sinaloa cartel has been dismantled following the arrest of 36 suspects, Colombian authorities said on Friday last.”
The arrests have been hailed as a success of cooperation between Colombia and the US, which has contributed billions of dollars in aid to help the Andean country fight drug smugglers with links to Marxist guerrillas.
“This operation between the United States and Colombia has a direct impact that should relieve violence and drug trafficking in Central America and Mexico,” the report stated.
Those organisations have tried to fill the void left in Colombia by the fall in recent years of the Norte Valle Cartel and the dissolution of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, a paramilitary group, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
They are becoming a leading supplier of cocaine to Mexican cartels, in particular the violent Sinaloa group, which experts say moves up to two-thirds of drugs into the US.
The Andean country has attracted billions of dollars in foreign direct investment over the last decade, boosting oil and coal output after US military aid helped it deal crippling blows to leftist guerrillas and cocaine cartels.
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$22 Million in drugs cause all that? What they will do for for a BIG shipment ??? take over the government ???
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$22 Million in drugs cause all that? What they will do for for a BIG shipment ??? take over the government ???
Interestingly the find they got down the islands was worth in excess of 700 million. So i dunno how this would compare.
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$22 Million in drugs cause all that? What they will do for for a BIG shipment ??? take over the government ???
Interestingly the find they got down the islands was worth in excess of 700 million. So i dunno how this would compare.
when was this?...ah while back?
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$22 Million in drugs cause all that? What they will do for for a BIG shipment ??? take over the government ???
Interestingly the find they got down the islands was worth in excess of 700 million. So i dunno how this would compare.
when was this?...ah while back?
Here is the link:
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,29631.html (http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,29631.html)
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Assuming veracity of the article:
National security? In how many places on the planet is it "conceivable" that foreign nationals (or their long-arms) could compromise the integrity of a sovereign nation such that a "war" between them is (a) not only viable, but (b) destabilizing to the core?
I would laugh, but nothing's funny.
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$22 Million in drugs cause all that? What they will do for for a BIG shipment ??? take over the government ???
Interestingly the find they got down the islands was worth in excess of 700 million. So i dunno how this would compare.
when was this?...ah while back?
Here is the link:
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,29631.html (http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,29631.html)
Thanks.....
well dat right dey shou;lda cause de 'war' to start back in 05...doh mind de 700 was TT dollars value
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COCAINE WAR.
By Nalinee Seelal (Newsday)
Wed, Sept, 7, 2011
Government stopped a bloody cocaine war between Colombian and Mexican drug leaders in this country which threatened numerous lives by calling the sudden state of emergency on August 21.
According to well-placed intelligence sources, Colombian and Mexican drug dealers who have been fighting for drug turf locally were set to go on a bloodbath, following the seizure of cocaine worth $22 million at Piarco International Airport on August 16, five days before the declaration of the state of emergency.
Officers of the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB) carried out a sting operation and detained a 19-year-old Arima man and seized two suitcases containing cocaine, packaged neatly in plastic bags. The cocaine weighed 53.926 kilogrammes and was found concealed in a blue blanket.
The suspect worked as a Servis Air employee and was charged for drug trafficking on August 19. He was denied bail. Up to yesterday he was being questioned by both local and United States (US) authorities about the origin of the drugs. The man has since indicated that he is fearful for his life and the safety of his family.
The cocaine reportedly belongs to a Colombian drug dealer whose associates are reported to be in this country with the intention of executing Mexican drug lords based here and an Aranjuez drug dealer who works for the Mexicans. The Aranjuez drug dealer reportedly tipped off the police about the suitcases of cocaine which were to be shipped to the US. Both the Colombians and Mexicans reportedly entered the country by boat with sophisticated weapons.
The recipient of the cocaine has reportedly gone into hiding but is now being sought by US authorities who are working closely with OCNFB officers.
Yesterday a source at the OCNFB told Newsday that the police are making inroads into this investigation and more will be revealed shortly.
However, intelligence sources said that when they were informed that both Colombian and Mexican drug lords were in the country, US authorities advised that the borders be placed under lockdown and that the state of emergency be put in place.
Newsday understands that the Colombians came to this country to deal specifically with the Mexicans and the local drug lord for tipping off the police on the whereabouts of their drugs and if this had occurred many many lives would have been lost.
Yesterday sources revealed that the Colombians and Mexicans are reportedly hiding out in this country and the state of emergency is geared at finding those persons to prevent any bloodshed.
According to sources, Trinidad and Tobago (TT) is a major transhipment point for drugs which are exported to North American countries.
The Colombians reportedly controlled the local drug turf for several years but the Mexicans have infiltrated this country which has resulted in drug lords from those two countries warring with each other.
Last Thursday, officers of the OCNFB and the Coast Guard raided a boat in La Brea at at about 1.40 am and seized cocaine in suitcases valued at $3.2 million.
Two Trinidadians, a Colombian and Venezuelan were arrested in that exercise, however up to yesterday no details were given on the status of the four held.
However local intelligence agencies believe that the cocaine found on the boat also belonged to the Colombian drug lord as information about the shipment was supplied to the police and Coast Guard by the Aranjuez dealer, who got the tipoff from the Mexicans.
This has further angered the Colombians who sources revealed are intent on executing the Mexicans and local drug lords responsible for their drugs being seized.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister announced that the state of emergency will be extended for another three months and Newsday understands that this was done to prevent any bloodbath from taking place in the country.
Yesterday Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley said he was informed while in Parliament on Saturday by Government persons that the real reason for the state of emergency was to prevent a war between a Colombian gang and a Trinidadian gang over the $22 million drug bust at Piarco. Attempts by Newsday to reach Rowley on the matter proved futile.
However, at yesterday’s media briefing on security matters, Minister of National Security Brigadier John Sandy when questioned if there is any truth to Rowley’s claims said, “Well I did not hear the Opposition Leader, I don’t know who told him that.”
Asked further if he knew anything about this matter involving a Colombian drug lord and a local drug lord Sandy said, “I’d rather not comment on that at this time.”
Recently, the US has been working closely with Colombian authorities to deal specifically with Mexican drug dealers who have infiltrated Colombia to set up a lucrative drug trade.
A report from Reuters stated, “A criminal gang capable of smuggling ten tonnes of cocaine a month for Mexico’s bloody Sinaloa cartel has been dismantled following the arrest of 36 suspects, Colombian authorities said on Friday last.”
The arrests have been hailed as a success of cooperation between Colombia and the US, which has contributed billions of dollars in aid to help the Andean country fight drug smugglers with links to Marxist guerrillas.
“This operation between the United States and Colombia has a direct impact that should relieve violence and drug trafficking in Central America and Mexico,” the report stated.
Those organisations have tried to fill the void left in Colombia by the fall in recent years of the Norte Valle Cartel and the dissolution of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, a paramilitary group, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
They are becoming a leading supplier of cocaine to Mexican cartels, in particular the violent Sinaloa group, which experts say moves up to two-thirds of drugs into the US.
The Andean country has attracted billions of dollars in foreign direct investment over the last decade, boosting oil and coal output after US military aid helped it deal crippling blows to leftist guerrillas and cocaine cartels.
So the SOE was called to avoid a cocaine war! Why didn't they say that in the first place?!
Ah guess everything should make sense now to dotish people! ::)
This is what you get when you vote for a government who has no plan and makes it up as they go along!!
Allyuh Trinis home getting what allyuh vote for yes so please take it all with a smile! 8)
I think Manning is to blame for all this! Imagine folks in T&T wanted to get rid of him so bad that they were prepared to vote for an alternative government with no concrete plans but a lot of good PR & sound bites!!
Thanks Manning!! :beermug:
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why alyuh does have to quote dem long ting is not like yuh reference\highlighting someting jeezan :(
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Yes Pro boi is we hatred 4 Patos dat have we in this messsssssssssssss. D fella is a capital K Klown but Kams etal could neva have gotten my vote. I know their style of governace and I really not impressed. I usually steups b4 during and after I vote d PNM. But nrxt time I eh go b steupsinggggggggggggggggggggg once d option is Rowley and Kams etal. I just go put meh x by d baliser.
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Yes Pro boi is we hatred 4 Patos dat have we in this messsssssssssssss. D fella is a capital K Klown but Kams etal could neva have gotten my vote. I know their style of governace and I really not impressed. I usually steups b4 during and after I vote d PNM. But nrxt time I eh go b steupsinggggggggggggggggggggg once d option is Rowley and Kams etal. I just go put meh x by d baliser.
Oh thou PNM sycophant.... :devil: ;D
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Yes Pro boi is we hatred 4 Patos dat have we in this messsssssssssssss. D fella is a capital K Klown but Kams etal could neva have gotten my vote. I know their style of governace and I really not impressed. I usually steups b4 during and after I vote d PNM. But nrxt time I eh go b steupsinggggggggggggggggggggg once d option is Rowley and Kams etal. I just go put meh x by d baliser.
Oh thou PNM sycophant.... :devil: ;D
YES MANNING IS MEH MAN U4GETTTTTTTTTTTTTT
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why alyuh does have to quote dem long ting is not like yuh reference\highlighting someting jeezan :(
Maybe I should I go stand in the corner until the class is over!! :(
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why alyuh does have to quote dem long ting is not like yuh reference\highlighting someting jeezan :(
Maybe I should I go stand in the corner until the class is over!! :(
yuh is not only one who does hurt up mih scrollin finger unnecessarily ...wrong place wrong time......is a pet peeve
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Assuming veracity of the article:
National security? In how many places on the planet is it "conceivable" that foreign nationals (or their long-arms) could compromise the integrity of a sovereign nation such that a "war" between them is (a) not only viable, but (b) destabilizing to the core?
I would laugh, but nothing's funny.
It's either a gross overreaction by the government (to delcare the SoE)... or a boldface lie. Either way, hardly justifies a 3-month state of emergency.
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Yes Pro boi is we hatred 4 Patos dat have we in this messsssssssssssss. D fella is a capital K Klown but Kams etal could neva have gotten my vote. I know their style of governace and I really not impressed. I usually steups b4 during and after I vote d PNM. But nrxt time I eh go b steupsinggggggggggggggggggggg once d option is Rowley and Kams etal. I just go put meh x by d baliser.
Oh thou PNM sycophant.... :devil: ;D
YES MANNING IS MEH MAN U4GETTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Yuh 2 timimg Wim ?
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Yes Pro boi is we hatred 4 Patos dat have we in this messsssssssssssss. D fella is a capital K Klown but Kams etal could neva have gotten my vote. I know their style of governace and I really not impressed. I usually steups b4 during and after I vote d PNM. But nrxt time I eh go b steupsinggggggggggggggggggggg once d option is Rowley and Kams etal. I just go put meh x by d baliser.
Oh thou PNM sycophant.... :devil: ;D
YES MANNING IS MEH MAN U4GETTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Yuh 2 timimg Wim ?
U very late
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Hog wash!! this PP think we stupid ....
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Hog wash!! this PP think we stupid ....
Of course we chupid we vote 4 dem.
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Hog wash!! this PP think we stupid ....
Of course we chupid we vote 4 dem.
doh study this chap.. he's a want-to-be Jackan in Canadian clothing.
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$22 Million in drugs cause all that? What they will do for for a BIG shipment ??? take over the government ???
Interestingly the find they got down the islands was worth in excess of 700 million. So i dunno how this would compare.
when was this?...ah while back?
Here is the link:
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,29631.html (http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,29631.html)
Thanks.....
well dat right dey shou;lda cause de 'war' to start back in 05...doh mind de 700 was TT dollars value
Dutty that bust back then was a Syrian vs Syrian/French Creole war...there was a couple major busts off the coast before or after that one made by foreign navies..can't remember all the details.
Some of the alledged repercussions were A.S Bryden warehouse burning down and Khoury kidnapping and beheading.
there were also a few murders around the same time.
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Early Morning Show 2011-09-06 Rowley talking on cocaine war
http://cnc3.co.tt/content/early-morning-show-2011-09-06
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well d government wud have still been stringing us along and making we for pappy show if rowley didnt open he mouth and say what the government official allegedly told him about the 'drug war'
and then when sandy was asked if the story is true, he bawl no comment, so d media take that as confirmation of the story
thanks eh rowley 8)
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Somebody call on I95 and say dat d Colombian govt send a diplomatic note sayin if we know dey peeps was comin 2 mash up d place we should have said someting. So a diplomaic row now. All dey have 2 say is we neva tell Rowley dat.
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I believe it. Some of it. Part of it. ::) Colombia want to go to War or what? You don't just roll up on we just so just so.
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Media will print anything to sell papers
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why would cocaine leave the doorsteps of usa (mexico) come to trini then to be shipped back to usa....well ah guess the more yuh transport the kilos the more expensive it becomes.
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why would cocaine leave the doorsteps of usa (mexico) come to trini then to be shipped back to usa....well ah guess the more yuh transport the kilos the more expensive it becomes.
maybe they want access to Europe?
maybe them just greedy and want to take over all aspects of drug producing and operations from the Colombians?
why pay for raw product when u can get control of the fields?
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why would cocaine leave the doorsteps of usa (mexico) come to trini then to be shipped back to usa....well ah guess the more yuh transport the kilos the more expensive it becomes.
maybe they want access to Europe?
maybe them just greedy and want to take over all aspects of drug producing and operations from the Colombians?
why pay for raw product when u can get control of the fields?
i eh think mexican cartels could compete with colombians regardin production.the trump card mexico have over colombia is location.pure and simple.
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why would cocaine leave the doorsteps of usa (mexico) come to trini then to be shipped back to usa....well ah guess the more yuh transport the kilos the more expensive it becomes.
maybe they want access to Europe?
maybe them just greedy and want to take over all aspects of drug producing and operations from the Colombians?
why pay for raw product when u can get control of the fields?
i eh think mexican cartels could compete with colombians regardin production.the trump card mexico have over colombia is location.pure and simple.
somewhere i had read earlier this week that the Mexicans trying to get a foothold into Colombia...i'll try and find it though
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somewhere i had read earlier this week that the Mexicans trying to get a foothold into Colombia...i'll try and find it though
Even assuming that is true.. why go thru TnT? Easier to just go thru Central America where language isn't a barrier and where presumably it would be easier to establish ties. But like Capo say, the Mexicans in Trinidad thing makes very little sense... I sure Trinidad as a market is on nobody's radar.
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Could be that Trini is the gateway to the English speaking Caribbean and Europe via London. Probably easier to send a Trini than a Mexican who would arouse more suspicion in Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica and London?
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somewhere i had read earlier this week that the Mexicans trying to get a foothold into Colombia...i'll try and find it though
Even assuming that is true.. why go thru TnT? Easier to just go thru Central America where language isn't a barrier and where presumably it would be easier to establish ties. But like Capo say, the Mexicans in Trinidad thing makes very little sense... I sure Trinidad as a market is on nobody's radar.
i think they watching Trinidad in terms of a transhipment point and whatever lil street money they pickup is a bonus.
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Could be that Trini is the gateway to the English speaking Caribbean and Europe via London. Probably easier to send a Trini than a Mexican who would arouse more suspicion in Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica and London?
yes thats what i saying
dem Mexicans looking for world domination lol
i not endorsing the SOE ;D but we done have Chinese and Russian links in T&T, so is only a matter of time before them get riled up too
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why would cocaine leave the doorsteps of usa (mexico) come to trini then to be shipped back to usa....well ah guess the more yuh transport the kilos the more expensive it becomes.
maybe they want access to Europe?
maybe them just greedy and want to take over all aspects of drug producing and operations from the Colombians?
why pay for raw product when u can get control of the fields?
i eh think mexican cartels could compete with colombians regardin production.the trump card mexico have over colombia is location.pure and simple.
somewhere i had read earlier this week that the Mexicans trying to get a foothold into Colombia...i'll try and find it though
nah that doh make sense,that go triple they price and they will lose existing markets they currently supplyin their brand too....how come.....they need to establish contact and routes......easier and cheaper for the yankee to go straight to the colombians
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if it is the mexicans want to go straight to colombia,the colombians will take ah back seat,less money,far less risk.they still gettin they ah piece ah pie but all headache fuh the mexican.
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Could be that Trini is the gateway to the English speaking Caribbean and Europe via London. Probably easier to send a Trini than a Mexican who would arouse more suspicion in Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica and London?
i think they watching Trinidad in terms of a transhipment point and whatever lil street money they pickup is a bonus.
So Mexico, which is North (and to the west) of the Caribbean will come to the island furthest south in order to establish a transshipment point to the rest of the Caribbean islands that they've just bypassed? And they coming into a market where they are faced with their biggest competitor at that? Say nothing of the fact that this Caribbean market is worth chicken feed compared to the US? Why would they have to come to the Caribbean to get to Europe?
Makes absolutely no sense.
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Hear all dem big drug dealers spillin their guts nah. :devil:
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Well, I did say "could be". However, for the sake of argument, maybe its easier to ship via Trini as the borders are so weak and the drug gangs can act without fear of being caught?
With regards to the Caribbean market being worth chicken feed compared to the US, why is McDonalds bothering with Trini when they could open another restaurant in USA? The answer is because a local franchisee believes the market is good enough to make him rich. Same could be said of drugs. Maybe TT$20 million is chickenfeed to a Mexican drug lord, but to a Trini dealer its a fortune. So he sources a small supplier who needs to move more coke to get a better margin from his supplier. He doesn't care if the buyer is from Mexico City or Trinidad as the buyer pays then arranges shipment. And, like McDonalds, if there is already an established client base, its a great target for the Mexicans as all they need to do is cut the price and up the quality.
A Mexican travelling to Europe may arouse more suspicion than a Trini, and anyway, why travel yourself when you can send a Trini? It also adds another layer of protection if he is caught.
I'm just guessing all this, I have no knowledge of how the drug trade works, but this seems plausible.
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Well, I did say "could be". However, for the sake of argument, maybe its easier to ship via Trini as the borders are so weak and the drug gangs can act without fear of being caught?
With regards to the Caribbean market being worth chicken feed compared to the US, why is McDonalds bothering with Trini when they could open another restaurant in USA? The answer is because a local franchisee believes the market is good enough to make him rich. Same could be said of drugs. Maybe TT$20 million is chickenfeed to a Mexican drug lord, but to a Trini dealer its a fortune. So he sources a small supplier who needs to move more coke to get a better margin from his supplier. He doesn't care if the buyer is from Mexico City or Trinidad as the buyer pays then arranges shipment. And, like McDonalds, if there is already an established client base, its a great target for the Mexicans as all they need to do is cut the price and up the quality.
A Mexican travelling to Europe may arouse more suspicion than a Trini, and anyway, why travel yourself when you can send a Trini? It also adds another layer of protection if he is caught.
I'm just guessing all this, I have no knowledge of how the drug trade works, but this seems plausible.
If we're going to be guessing... let's at least put forth stuff that doesn't stretch the bounds of reason. Mexicans coming to Trinidad to establish a transshipment point for Caribbean bound drugs becaust TnT borders weak? Weaker than Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts-Nevis et al who probably have one gun boat among them? Trinidad's border security is weak, but not that weak.
As for your McDonald's example, the US fast-food market is saturated with competition whereas in the developing world and elsewhere American brands carry a cache giving them a leg up on local competition. McDonald's makes sense... Mexican drug market, not so much. The US has an insatiable demand for narcotics. Trinidad has a very tiny population, and an even smaller cocaine-abusing market... a market that can't even sustain a US$3.5 million supply (as evidenced by that quantity being shipped out). I don't know... but I would be surprised if any Mexican dealer that desperate (with the US market right across the border) as to travel hundreds of miles south, to fight up with the Colombians over using TnT as a transshipment point.
It's worth noting that they'd have to cross seven terrestrial borders just to get the drugs to Trinidad... and then pass it up the archipelago... as opposed to shipping it thru Veracruz to the Cayman, Jamaica, PR, DR... to the top of the chain. The latter seems clearly the shorter, cheaper, less hazardous route.
More likely is the scenario that the government is fighting to come up with post hoc rationalizations to justify an indefensible decision on the SoE.
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tis iz ah football site....
Who iz d better team...Mexico or Colombia?
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In the interest of connecting some dots.
somewhere i had read earlier this week that the Mexicans trying to get a foothold into Colombia...i'll try and find it though
Even assuming that is true.. why go thru TnT? Easier to just go thru Central America where language isn't a barrier and where presumably it would be easier to establish ties. But like Capo say, the Mexicans in Trinidad thing makes very little sense... I sure Trinidad as a market is on nobody's radar.
You're quite correct with respect to Central America ... they (actors from both Mexico and Colombia) are already there. For instance, it's an issue that recently came to the fore in Costa Rica about ten weeks ago with the capture of Leudo Nieves. Have a look at Leudo Nieves and you'll see why certain players can move relatively undetected in a Caribbean setting.
HOWEVER, with respect to language ... we're in 2011, for a variety of reasons: some historical and others expedient, language and cultural kinship are not as key drivers as one may conclude intuitively. The reality is that counter-intuitive decisions tend to suit success in the operating environment we're discussing.
As far as why go through T&T? The players are pushing a multi-prong agenda in part because it is known that a portion of the goods will be seized. Having multiple fronts in play helps to (there's a statistical term that's evading me right now) mitigate the "acceptable loss" category.
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Could be that Trini is the gateway to the English speaking Caribbean and Europe via London. Probably easier to send a Trini than a Mexican who would arouse more suspicion in Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica and London?
i think they watching Trinidad in terms of a transhipment point and whatever lil street money they pickup is a bonus.
So Mexico, which is North (and to the west) of the Caribbean will come to the island furthest south in order to establish a transshipment point to the rest of the Caribbean islands that they've just bypassed? And they coming into a market where they are faced with their biggest competitor at that? Say nothing of the fact that this Caribbean market is worth chicken feed compared to the US? Why would they have to come to the Caribbean to get to Europe?
Makes absolutely no sense.
Right now, the prevailing view is that consumption in Europe has soared while consumption in the US has declined. Europe is the attractive market. You ask why use the Caribbean? The same question can be asked: why use places like Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde and other West African states. The answer is it fits the expedience of the market ... plus factors that you identified elsewhere in the thread ... porous state architecture ... hence ease of corruption, lack of policing ... all the usual variables. These actors have a model of how to compromise ... once you've compromised local actors in country X ... compromising local actors elsewhere is viewed as following the template.
There are multiple transhipment points in the Caribbean because there are multiple points of opportunity ... and because there are multiple players. There really isn't a bypass in progress. Even Cuba. The contiguity of the Caribbean from places like Cartagena, Roatán, San Andrés and Providencia or Puerto Barrios really doesn't present the difficulties one would presume.
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I wonder what inspired this thread :devil:.
Curiously, this linkage seemingly exists elsewhere.
You way too bright for me..I doh speak cryptic..so feel free to translate for plebs like me sometimes.
When Anand comes calling I would prefer to have him decipher what was meant. Buh jes fuh you nah ... some ah de same people are allegedly in de same mix in other countries in Central and South America and well, our neighbouring islands. Curious thing that.
So ... the other thread on Cocaine Wars made me return to this.
Check out personalities such as Rady Z-a-i-t-e-r, Walid M-a-k-l-e-d, and Abdala who bears the same surname as Walid.
As Trinis we have a sense that we're in a "unique" universe. Not necessarily so. One more: F-a-c-u-s-s-e B-a-r-j-u-m.
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get on asylumseeker on yuh last post....i say iz d economist magazine or Lipsey i reading dey yes.... ;D
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A notable difference in the "círcumstances" is that in other places electoral politics has been entered into ... as candidates ... not behind the scenes. The latter is largely the Caribbean experience ... although Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are exceptions to that.
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You're quite correct with respect to Central America ... they (actors from both Mexico and Colombia) are already there. For instance, it's an issue that recently came to the fore in Costa Rica about ten weeks ago with the capture of Leudo Nieves. Have a look at Leudo Nieves and you'll see why certain players can move relatively undetected in a Caribbean setting.
HOWEVER, with respect to language ... we're in 2011, for a variety of reasons: some historical and others expedient, language and cultural kinship are not as key drivers as one may conclude intuitively. The reality is that counter-intuitive decisions tend to suit success in the operating environment we're discussing.
As far as why go through T&T? The players are pushing a multi-prong agenda in part because it is known that a portion of the goods will be seized. Having multiple fronts in play helps to (there's a statistical term that's evading me right now) mitigate the "acceptable loss" category.
My comment about the language "barrier" relates to more than just a mere facility with the local tongue, but also to facility with overcoming trust issues on both sides and in establishing a network. I wouldn't know, but one would assume that cultural factors would smooth the process in Central America as opposed to TnT. At issue isn't whether the obstacles can be overcome, but whether attempting such in TnT is cost effective, relative to avenues in Central America.
Right now, the prevailing view is that consumption in Europe has soared while consumption in the US has declined. Europe is the attractive market. You ask why use the Caribbean? The same question can be asked: why use places like Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde and other West African states. The answer is it fits the expedience of the market ... plus factors that you identified elsewhere in the thread ... porous state architecture ... hence ease of corruption, lack of policing ... all the usual variables. These actors have a model of how to compromise ... once you've compromised local actors in country X ... compromising local actors elsewhere is viewed as following the template.
There are multiple transhipment points in the Caribbean because there are multiple points of opportunity ... and because there are multiple players. There really isn't a bypass in progress. Even Cuba. The contiguity of the Caribbean from places like Cartagena, Roatán, San Andrés and Providencia or Puerto Barrios really doesn't present the difficulties one would presume.
Are the Mexican cartels in these West African states?
As per the multiple transshipment points, in theory what you say makes sense, in reality to accept that the Mexicans have targeted Trinidad as one of those access points is to accept that they are willing to pay the higher costs to move a relatively small amount of product, and in doing so, unnecessarily trigger a war with the Colombians by encroaching on their territory. Entirely possible, but doesn't seem realistic.
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Hear all dem big drug dealers spillin their guts nah. :devil:
Haha ent....Capo have dis ting down!
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Mexican cocaine doesn't mean cocaine originating in Mexico. It largely means cocaine originating in Colombia, controlled by Mexicans or bearing a significant Mexican investment.
The way the article is framed brings focus on a clash between Mexicans and Colombians in Trinidad but it doesn't flesh out why beyond the crackdown on the $22 million value. Although this might be an example of the two "groups" clashing, for the most part there is a lot of cooperation between them. What's probably happened here is an issue related to protecting the investment.
As far as the cost effectiveness ... As a former Colombian participant said of the Mexicans: they tax heavily ... something like 40% of the product is deemed theirs and then they levy a 20% on the value of the other 60% that's the Colombians.
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so war over 22 million TT of cocaine ..... ::)
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so war over 22 million TT of cocaine ..... ::)
.......and a MASSIVE field of ocro, you eh see how tall dem plants was or wha??
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$22 Million in drugs cause all that? What they will do for for a BIG shipment ??? take over the government ???
Do you want the government to sit on their asses like it has been for the past 15 years,seems like you in favour of the drug business in TT.
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$22 Million in drugs cause all that? What they will do for for a BIG shipment ??? take over the government ???
Do you want the government to sit on their asses like it has been for the past 15 years,seems like you in favour of the drug business in TT.
What you in we business for? Stay in de sky nah man. Yuh government wukking. Is rel guntas getting lock up yuh orgasmic right now.
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Hear all dem big drug dealers spillin their guts nah. :devil:
whether is cocaine or ah bundle ah bodi,is simple business sense.gettin one product to another destination.wuh being drug dealer ha to do with this son.
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FAIL GRADE (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/FAIL_GRADE-198714941.html)
US report knocks T&T war on drugs; not enough political support
By Joel Julien joel.julien@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Mar 17, 2013 at 10:49 PM ECT
INSUFFICIENT support from the political leadership of Trinidad and Tobago has caused the fight against narcotics in this country to be more challenging, the United States Department of State's 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report has stated.
"The 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) is an annual report by the Department of State to Congress prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade in Calendar Year 2012. Volume I covers drug and chemical control activities. Volume II covers money laundering and financial crimes," the Department of State's official website, www.state.gov, stated.
The report was also critical of several other Caribbean countries, particularly Jamaica and Guyana in their war on drug trafficking.
"The entities and individuals working to combat narcotics in Trinidad and Tobago face considerable challenges and insufficient support from political leadership," the report stated in its conclusion for this country's review.
"Additional reforms are necessary to expedite case prosecution, revise outdated laws, and establish an evidence-based criminal justice system as fundamental prerequisites for raising conviction rates and deterring traffickers," it stated.
The US Department of State noted that beside the lack of support by the political heads there are also concerns that there is "insufficient interagency co-operation and information sharing".
"Barriers to interagency communication persist as supply-side operational units only work together on specific cases and do not trust one another due to allegations and rumours of corruption," the report stated.
"Operational units are also heavily dependent upon international donors for physical assets such as cars, computers or tactical equipment that repeatedly go unfunded by government budget streams," the Department of State report noted.
This country was described as having "porous borders" with direct transportation routes to Europe, West Africa, Canada and the United States making it an "ideal location for cocaine and marijuana transshipment".
"The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has long struggled to effectively coordinate and adequately fund its counter-narcotics efforts," the report sated.
Overall seizures and interdiction of drugs dropped in 2012 compared to 2011, the US Department of State report noted.
Law enforcement entities in this country seized 146.3 kilogrammes of cocaine and 2.26 metric tonnes of marijuana last year and made five major seizures at seaports during the year, the report stated.
"National seizures and interdictions, however, were down for the year in comparison to 2011, while trends in importation, production and usage are conjectured to have remained static," it stated.
"The root cause for the decrease in seizures is unknown, but may be attributable to cyclical variations in trafficking methodologies which commonly result in seizure reductions for a period of time," it stated.
The US Department of State reported that narcotics prosecutions, convictions and extraditions were low in relation to the scale of drug trafficking in this country.
"While 4,027 people were arrested for possession and another 468 for trafficking, only 58 small scale traffickers were convicted during the year," the report stated.
The report stated that the Government did not encourage nor facilitate the production and distribution of drugs.
"The Government of Trinidad and Tobago neither encourages nor facilitates illicit production or distribution of drugs nor the laundering of proceeds from the sale of illicit drugs," it stated.
"No charges of drug related corruption were filed against senior government officials in 2012," it stated.
The US Department of State, however, called on the government take "concrete steps" to address the country's narcotics control efforts.
Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Francis Joseph, the adviser to National Security Minister Jack Warner, both said they had not seen the US Department of State report when contacted yesterday.
They, however, said comments will be made on the findings today.
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Who is the USA to judge anyone else on failing in the war against drugs?!
Case of the pot calling the kettle black here.
All this is just political manoeuvring to put more pressure on the T&T government to cut loose Jack Warner the current Minister of National Security appointed by the PP Government.
Jack is being rewarded and protected by the PP government because he was a main financier of their election campaign and these Ministerial positions is his payback for his crucial role in helping to get them into power.
I believe the USA is using the house arrest of one of the Jacksons in America as bait in trying to get to Jack. They are trying to get Jackson to sing like Michael did in Thriller but he won't grab the mic and his crotch and moontalk for now. It's a diplomatic game of chess taking place here right now.
T&T is no bigger a failure in the fight against drugs than USA, Jamaica, Mexico or anyone else in the region.
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Who is the USA to judge anyone else on failing in the war against drugs?!
Case of the pot calling the kettle black here.
All this is just political manoeuvring to put more pressure on the T&T government to cut loose Jack Warner the current Minister of National Security appointed by the PP Government.
Jack is being rewarded and protected by the PP government because he was a main financier of their election campaign and these Ministerial positions is his payback for his crucial role in helping to get them into power.
I believe the USA is using the house arrest of one of the Jacksons in America as bait in trying to get to Jack. They are trying to get Jackson to sing like Michael did in Thriller but he won't grab the mic and his crotch and moontalk for now. It's a diplomatic game of chess taking place here right now.
T&T is no bigger a failure in the fight against drugs than USA, Jamaica, Mexico or anyone else in the region.
Is Tito not Michael
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Who is the USA to judge anyone else on failing in the war against drugs?!
Case of the pot calling the kettle black here.
All this is just political manoeuvring to put more pressure on the T&T government to cut loose Jack Warner the current Minister of National Security appointed by the PP Government.
Jack is being rewarded and protected by the PP government because he was a main financier of their election campaign and these Ministerial positions is his payback for his crucial role in helping to get them into power.
I believe the USA is using the house arrest of one of the Jacksons in America as bait in trying to get to Jack. They are trying to get Jackson to sing like Michael did in Thriller but he won't grab the mic and his crotch and moontalk for now. It's a diplomatic game of chess taking place here right now.
T&T is no bigger a failure in the fight against drugs than USA, Jamaica, Mexico or anyone else in the region.
Is Tito not Michael
:beermug: :beermug:
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Trini-couple-caught-in-biggest-Orlando-drug-bust-216688191.html
Husband investing in $20m Chaguanas business
By Asha Javeed asha.javeed@trindadexpress.com
Story Created: Jul 23, 2013 at 9:37 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jul 23, 2013 at 11:21 PM ECT
Two Trinidad and Tobago nationals who are currently investing millions in Trinidad and Tobago were charged in Orange Country, Florida, on July 14, with trafficking some 3,000 pounds (1,360 kg) of marijuana.
According to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, police found 1,230 pounds (558 kg) of marijuana inside an RV (recreational vehicle) owned by Mukesh and Shamila Rampersad—815 pounds (370 kg) in a storage compartment below the vehicle and roughly 415 pounds (188 kg) inside the bed in the bedroom of the RV.
The Rampersads were two of five people arrested by the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation in the incident.
Larry Zwieg, director of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, was quoted in an online report by RTT News: “That might be the most I’ve ever seen here in Orlando. We are looking further into the organisation. We are looking further into this couple who were driving the RV.”
Zwieg had told RTT News the marijuana was being transported by a Jamaican drug-trafficking organisation and was to be distributed throughout the state of Florida.
Rampersad, 51, was accompanied by his wife on the tour bus owned by the couple, valued at US$400,000. They were charged with trafficking in cannabis greater than 2,000 pounds with a firearm and conspiracy to traffic cannabis greater than 2,000 pounds. According to the county records, Rampersad was released the same day on a US$100,300 surety bond while his wife was released on a US$100,150 cash bond.
Rampersad, owner of Prestige Auto Body & Cycle in Florida, is in the midst of a $20 million investment in Edinburgh, Chaguanas.
On October 13, 2011, he was quoted in an article in the Business Guardian as saying he planned to invest in the areas of door manufacturing and automotive customising and should generate over 150 jobs for the corporation over the next two years.
To this end, Rampersad has been constructing a building in Edinburgh.
Chaguanas Mayor Orlando Nagessar yesterday told the Express he was “shocked” by the news.
He said he was first introduced to Ram-persad when the borough was twinned with the city of Lauderhill, Florida.
He described Rampersad as “part of the Trini posse” in Florida, and during the twinning celebrations, Rampersad had taken them on a bus, which he owned, on road trips in the district.
He noted that Rampersad was originally from Freeport and had migrated from Trinidad many years ago but saw an opportunity to invest in T&T again after the twinning ceremony.
Asked whether the Edinburgh project was on track, he confirmed they were now in the process of installing glass windows, so in his estimation, it was on track.
Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to the United States Dr Neil Parsan told the Express via e-mail yesterday he has “had no such report sent to the Mission”.
(http://media.trinidadexpress.com/images/nw1515.jpg)
facing charges for drugs in RV: Shamila Rampersad
(http://media.trinidadexpress.com/images/nw1418.jpg)
facing charges for drugs in RV: Mukesh Rampersad
(http://media.trinidadexpress.com/images/nw1327.jpg)
trini ties: In this photo taken from the website of the T&T consulate in Miami, businessman Mukesh Rampersad, centre, poses with Dr Anil Ramnanan, Consul General, Miami, and Dr Neil Parsan, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to the United States.
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Lol. ah wonder if this is the 1st time trini politicians ever get caught on camera with a drug lord.
Makes you wonder on what they knew and what else going on.
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Lol. ah wonder if this is the 1st time trini politicians ever get caught on camera with a drug lord.
Makes you wonder on what they knew and what else going on.
when this gov't came in one of d first tings dey do is undermine and compromise d country's already not so good security apparatus....one of dey financiers even had ah container full ah weed on d port during d SOE so.........................
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Lol. ah wonder if this is the 1st time trini politicians ever get caught on camera with a drug lord.
Makes you wonder on what they knew and what else going on.
when this gov't came in one of d first tings dey do is undermine and compromise d country's already not so good security apparatus....one of dey financiers even had ah container full ah weed on d port during d SOE so.........................
And nothing happen to him. These people have blood on they hands. No wonder the OPV get cancelled.
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maybe they real like the herb? or is for medicinal purposes?
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Ah went and macco dey site
I eh go lie for ah drug front, dey does do some some nice work
(http://www.pac-miami.com/gal438/05291309a.jpg)
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Dutty is dat what dey call maney laundering ???
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Dutty is dat what dey call maney laundering ???
Yes like all them Business Warner have
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Dutty is dat what dey call maney laundering ???
de amount ah weed I hear you does sell up and down Hwy 410......I should be askin you dat :devil:
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Dutty is dat what dey call maney laundering ???
de amount ah weed I hear you does sell up and down Hwy 410......I should be askin you dat :devil:
dem yut smokin some real nasty stuff here
http://www.bramptonguardian.com/news-story/3116317-family-of-15-charged-in-marijuana-grow-op-bust/
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Marijuana is not a drug...it's a plant.
Still zero valid reason why a bunch of OLD rich white men made it illegal in the 1930s USA, and then FORCED that ridiculous policy on the entire planet. (Sarcasm --- because it's actually a well known reason).
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Cocaine is a plant too
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Cocaine is a plant too
http://www.youtube.com/v/wDoIM1dRzGo
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Cocaine is a plant too
Although cocaine is a derivative from a leaf, there's still no valid explanation why it's illegal. These ridiculous laws have created the black market which has led to unnecessary drug wars.
And btw...cocaine wasn't ALWAYS illegal.
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Cocaine and Meth deserve to be illegal.
Weed is the only one i can accept.
No valid reason why cocaine illegal? Get a family addicted to it. Maybe you might change yuh mind
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Cocaine and Meth deserve to be illegal.
Weed is the only one i can accept.
No valid reason why cocaine illegal? Get a family addicted to it. Maybe you might change yuh mind
So exactly how are the current drug laws working out with that? Because the fact remains is that all this addiction is happening under the current drug laws.
Coacaine distribution and addiction is horrible --- but in a 'supposedly' free society distribution should be treated as any other business..and addicition should be a social issue, not a criminal one.
Again...still zero valid reason, since law or no law, cocaine is still easy to get...readily available...and addiction is still occurring.
Give me a valid reason. :)
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https://www.youtube.com/v/Bd3nJ4gzNPo
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Cocaine and Meth deserve to be illegal.
Weed is the only one i can accept.
No valid reason why cocaine illegal? Get a family addicted to it. Maybe you might change yuh mind
So exactly how are the current drug laws working out with that? Because the fact remains is that all this addiction is happening under the current drug laws.
Coacaine distribution and addiction is horrible --- but in a 'supposedly' free society distribution should be treated as any other business..and addicition should be a social issue, not a criminal one.
Again...still zero valid reason, since law or no law, cocaine is still easy to get...readily available...and addiction is still occurring.
Give me a valid reason. :)
Who cares about valid reason. And murders are still committed even though it illegal. You want to legalize Murder too with that logic?
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Cocaine and Meth deserve to be illegal.
Weed is the only one i can accept.
No valid reason why cocaine illegal? Get a family addicted to it. Maybe you might change yuh mind
So exactly how are the current drug laws working out with that? Because the fact remains is that all this addiction is happening under the current drug laws.
Coacaine distribution and addiction is horrible --- but in a 'supposedly' free society distribution should be treated as any other business..and addicition should be a social issue, not a criminal one.
Again...still zero valid reason, since law or no law, cocaine is still easy to get...readily available...and addiction is still occurring.
Give me a valid reason. :)
Who cares about valid reason. And murders are still committed even though it illegal. You want to legalize Murder too with that logic?
With all due respect, it's not the same thing, my friend. 'Murder' is a fatal act against the will of someone else.
Cocaine production is an enterprise that people freely engage in. Cocaine consumption (although I disagree with it's consumption) is an act of people who freely decide to purchase and consume it.
Just because one may not agree with consuming alcohol, does it make sense to make alcohol production, purchase, and consumption illegal also?
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Cocaine pear juice death: Cole Cold Pear-D warning
A Royal Navy veteran has died after drinking a pear juice drink laced with cocaine.
Police said Joromie Lewis, 33, of Hampshire, became ill immediately after trying a small amount of the Cole Cold Pear-D drink last Thursday.
He died within hours at Southampton General Hospital.
Officers said Mr Lewis thought the drink, from the Caribbean, was genuine, but they believe the bottle may have been used to bring drugs into the UK.
More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-25351120
Zero in on ah Cole Cold!!
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Fatal ‘Pear D’ bottle found in warehouse
By Kim Boodram
Story Created: Dec 16, 2013 at 10:51 PM ECT
Story Updated: Dec 16, 2013 at 10:51 PM ECT
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Fatal-Pear-D-bottle-found-in-warehouse-236133121.html
REPORTS on United Kingdom Royal Navy veteran Joromie Lewis, who died on December 5 in England after drinking from a “Pear D” bottle filled with liquid cocaine, stated at the weekend that the former sailor found the bottle in a warehouse.
Hampshire police have told BBC News that the deadly cocktail, housed in an ordinary plastic bottle that originally carried the popular soft drink, was part of a consignment ordered by a third party through an import/export company that Lewis worked for.
The drink is made by local manufacturer SM Jaleel and Company Limited, based in Otaheite Industrial Estate, which said last week that it does not export Pear D to the UK for sale in shops.
The company subsequently recalled, from Trinidad and Tobago and the region, all bottles of the drink bearing the code “BB Jan 08 14”, as a precautionary measure.
The BBC Online reported Hampshire police as saying that Lewis, a Vincentian-born resident of Gosport, was “wholly innocent” and had simply picked the bottle up off the floor of the warehouse and taken it home.
A small drink was enough to kill the 33-year-old, who died in hospital shortly after consuming it.
Hampshire police had issued a warning against “Pear D”, but later stated that there was no evidence of the fatal incident being anything but an isolated case.
Last Thursday, however, the UK Food Standards Agency issued an alert calling on shops to withdraw the drink if they find it and said investigations were continuing to find out whether more bottles of the product had been distributed in the UK.
Speaking on the contaminated bottle’s presence in the UK, Hampshire police’s Superintendent James Fulton was reported by the BBC as saying: “It is something which is known as a method that drug-smugglers will use as a way of bypassing border checks.Tragically, it has gone horribly wrong when Mr Lewis has wholly innocently had a drink from this bottle.”
Pastor David Price of Bridgemary Family Church, which Lewis attended, called him “an amazing guy” and told BBC News: “There are not many guys like him. He’d help anyone, day or night, he was just wonderful. He always had a smile and time for people.”
Price also described Lewis as “anti-drugs, anti-drink, anti-gambling”.
The UK Daily Mail reported online that cocaine in its powder form is highly soluble and half a kilogramme of the drug can be dissolved into a litre of water. It is then easily returned to its original powder state as 90 per cent can be decanted and filtered.
However, the liquid mixture is so lethal that just a teaspoon of it can be fatal.
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http://www.wvec.com/my-city/norfolk/Big-cocaine-bust-at-Port-of-Norfolk-240515591.html
$100 million cocaine bust at Port of Norfolk
by 13News Now
WVEC.com
Posted on January 16, 2014 at 10:40 AM
NORFOLK-Cocaine with a street value of about $100 million was seized from a container at the Port of Norfolk.
Customs and Border Protection officers discovered the 732 pounds of cocaine in December.
They discovered the drugs concealed in cans of fruit juice held in a 20-foot container during an inspection, officials said.
The wholesale value of the cocaine is about $12 million and has a street value as much as $100 million, according to Customs officials.
"The vigilance and expertise that is utilized in identifying complex concealment methods enhances CBPs layered defense in protecting the United States against dangerous drugs," stated Area Port Director Mark J Laria.
The cocaine hidden inside a 20-foot container originated from Trinidad Tobago was targeted based on intelligence and current narcotic trends. The shipment was destined for New York.
As to why the seizure wasn't announced at the time, spokesman Louis Rossero told 13News Now, “There are certain protocols that we have to follow to make sure the product is cocaine. It has to be tested and verified. Other government agencies are involved so there are many steps to go through before we announce the seizure.”
Homeland Security Norfolk and Hampton Roads Border Enforcement Security Task Force continue to investigate the case. So far, no one has been arrested.
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(http://linapps.s3.amazonaws.com/linapps/photomojo/wavy.com/photos/2014/01/g10675-cocaine-concealed-in-cans-of-fruit-juice/203960-biggest-cocaine-bust-in-port-of-norfolk-history-39c7a.jpg)
(http://linapps.s3.amazonaws.com/linapps/photomojo/wavy.com/photos/2014/01/g10675-cocaine-concealed-in-cans-of-fruit-juice/203961-biggest-cocaine-bust-in-port-of-norfolk-history-bca03.jpg)
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Watching how this one would evolve...
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Could this have been the real reason why our PM had to rush to New York last month, just wondering!!!
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This is so ridiculously embarrassing for the country... and this sentence right here speaks volumes:
The cocaine hidden inside a 20-foot container originated from Trinidad Tobago was targeted based on intelligence and current narcotic trends.
This means that there has been a trend of narcotics shipments from TnT to North America that they've picked up on.
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This is so ridiculously embarrassing for the country... and this sentence right here speaks volumes:
The cocaine hidden inside a 20-foot container originated from Trinidad Tobago was targeted based on intelligence and current narcotic trends.
This means that there has been a trend of narcotics shipments from TnT to North America that they've picked up on.
Agree to some extent but it could allso mean how the drugs are packaged for concealment.
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That spoil somebody's day for sure, it damn good.
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Could this have been the real reason why our PM had to rush to New York last month, just wondering!!!
Or the real reason for the spike in the murder rate in January?
NORFOLK-Cocaine with a street value of about $100 million was seized from a container at the Port of Norfolk.
Customs and Border Protection officers discovered the 732 pounds of cocaine in December.
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Could this have been the real reason why our PM had to rush to New York last month, just wondering!!!
Or the real reason for the spike in the murder rate in January?
NORFOLK-Cocaine with a street value of about $100 million was seized from a container at the Port of Norfolk.
Customs and Border Protection officers discovered the 732 pounds of cocaine in December.
I doubt. The spike in the murder rate wasn't really gang related. Murders were happening all over the country involving different individuals. All that drugs and people still looking towards Beetham and Laventille. We will never learn.
Not to sound like a crazy person but the same company that produced Pear D that was found in the Uk laden with cocaine is the same company that produces these juices. I am really apprehensive when it comes to purchases packaged drinks now. I will purchase fruits and make my own.
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Statement from SM Jaleel
SM Jaleel Limited says they commenced an investigation into US seizure of 732 lbs of cocaine found in cans of Trinidad Juice in a container at a port in Norfolk, Virginia.
Here is an Official Statement issued by the company VIA their website: SM Jaleel is a family owned and operated business that began its operations in Trinidad approximately 90 years ago. We have consistently maintained our family values throughout the development of the business to include, in more recent times, the global expansion of our operations through the exportation of our trusted products to various countries and communities around the world.
We have always taken pride in the high level of quality and standards that we have adhered to for our products and have and will always continue to comply with the various legislations both locally and internationally relating to the production and exportation of our products.
It has become common knowledge that the criminals involved in drug trafficking have been using mechanisms to transport cocaine, inclusive of items such as fruit, car parts, lumber, hardware and various others. It now appears that someone may be trying to utilize our company’s product in this regard.
We too have only just been recently informed of the situation that occurred almost a month ago on December 20, 2013, regarding the use of our TJC orange and grapefruit flavoured juice tins in the smuggling of cocaine in to the United States and have, to date, not been contacted by the relevant US authorities in connection with this matter.
At present we have no knowledge or evidence of the details other than the press release from the United States. We have already commenced our own internal investigation; however, we are not yet in a position to provide any further details at this time.
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Hmmmmmm. :thinking:
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Scary...Funny thing is that is a bulk purchase. So they should know who that shipment was sold to. I will not be purchasing any of their products. That is just to scary. What if one just ends back on the shelf for mistake. This is scary
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I doubt it had anything to do with the company, beyond an employee stealing some labels for the traffickers. Unless somebody real stupid, and I doubt these ppl are.
You can buy a machine and can to your heart's content in private.
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I doubt it had anything to do with the company, beyond an employee stealing some labels for the traffickers. Unless somebody real stupid, and I doubt these ppl are.
You can buy a machine and can to your heart's content in private.
diss is d second time... d Pear D incident now this, people cant help but ponder the coincidence.
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I doubt it had anything to do with the company, beyond an employee stealing some labels for the traffickers. Unless somebody real stupid, and I doubt these ppl are.
You can buy a machine and can to your heart's content in private.
diss is d second time... d Pear D incident now this, people cant help but ponder the coincidence.
The Pear D thing was different, that wasn't a shipment or anything like that, just liquified cocaine that somebody had sitting in a warehouse somewhere and the fella pick it up and drink from it. Not sure if he mix it up with something he was drinking and rest somewhere or what. But it wasn't something that came directly from a store or shipment.
EDIT: Then again...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-25548952
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This is so ridiculously embarrassing for the country... and this sentence right here speaks volumes:
The cocaine hidden inside a 20-foot container originated from Trinidad Tobago was targeted based on intelligence and current narcotic trends.
This means that there has been a trend of narcotics shipments from TnT to North America that they've picked up on.
There has been a trend. Everyone knows that T&T is a major hub from SA and Africa. Why is it only embarrassing for T&T?
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I doubt it had anything to do with the company, beyond an employee stealing some labels for the traffickers. Unless somebody real stupid, and I doubt these ppl are.
You can buy a machine and can to your heart's content in private.
Arguably one could acquire one's own machine ... but then what? Merger of the 700 adulterated cans with the other (what has been described as) "thousands of cans" still had to be effected to subsume the product within the complete shipment.
If one's canning machine is off premises, one still has to bring those products to the rest of the shipment. Not an easy or unsophisticated thing to accomplish.
If the waybill in this case doesn't reflect S.M. Jaleel ... what entity does it reflect?
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There has been a trend. Everyone knows that T&T is a major hub from SA and Africa. Why is it only embarrassing for T&T?
$100 million dollars of cocaine was intercepted on a shipment of cocaine from Trinidad... who else would it be embarrassing for? Grenada... by association? The US? International law enforcement looking at the land of your birth as being neck-deep in the drug trade and that not embarrassing for TnT specifically?
I doesn't even know if to take you seriously sometimes nah.
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The Laventy boys have sophistication and they still using latrines!!!
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I doubt it had anything to do with the company, beyond an employee stealing some labels for the traffickers. Unless somebody real stupid, and I doubt these ppl are.
You can buy a machine and can to your heart's content in private.
Granted but how does a person also get access to 100 million dollars worth of cocaine. Think about the logistics and finances in acquiring that quantity of drugs. Who can fund such an acquisition? A very limited set of people I can assure you.
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I now beginning to understand how some people in T&T driving round in brand new Aventador and F12 an ting oui
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There has been a trend. Everyone knows that T&T is a major hub from SA and Africa. Why is it only embarrassing for T&T?
$100 million dollars of cocaine was intercepted on a shipment of cocaine from Trinidad... who else would it be embarrassing for? Grenada... by association? The US? International law enforcement looking at the land of your birth as being neck-deep in the drug trade and that not embarrassing for TnT specifically?
I doesn't even know if to take you seriously sometimes nah.
Bakes, Bakes, Bakes............ (http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/faint2.gif)
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Who can fund such an acquisition?
Them Laventy boys!!!!
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The US? International law enforcement looking at the land of your birth as being neck-deep in the drug trade and that not embarrassing for TnT specifically?
Bakes, honestly, I am not embarassed. And I honestly can't give you a reason why!!!!
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I doubt it had anything to do with the company, beyond an employee stealing some labels for the traffickers. Unless somebody real stupid, and I doubt these ppl are.
You can buy a machine and can to your heart's content in private.
Arguably one could acquire one's own machine ... but then what? Merger of the 700 adulterated cans with the other (what has been described as) "thousands of cans" still had to be effected to subsume the product within the complete shipment.
If one's canning machine is off premises, one still has to bring those products to the rest of the shipment. Not an easy or unsophisticated thing to accomplish.
If the waybill in this case doesn't reflect S.M. Jaleel ... what entity does it reflect?
Agreed, putting the contraband in with a shipment of legitimate goods would require some collusion.
If it is so then good, better chance of arresting somebody that matters.
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its on a CNC journalist twitter that DEA is in the country to make arrests and possible extradition applications to be heard tonight
Tweets
hema ramkissoon @hema_ramkissoon 3h
Sources DEA in talks with local authorities following drug find
Expand Reply Retweet Favorite More
hema ramkissoon @hema_ramkissoon 3h
possible extradition applications to be heard tonight - Sources
Expand Reply Retweet Favorite More
hema ramkissoon @hema_ramkissoon 3h
sources confirm US DEA in TT to make arrest following drug find
Expand Reply Retweet Favorite More
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I doubt it had anything to do with the company, beyond an employee stealing some labels for the traffickers. Unless somebody real stupid, and I doubt these ppl are.
You can buy a machine and can to your heart's content in private.
diss is d second time... d Pear D incident now this, people cant help but ponder the coincidence.
Some years ago local police made a big bust in a bar in Deigo where they found kilos of cocaine in Trinidad Orange juice cans. Gocking was arrested for that . This is the cousin of the Gocking that tried to bring the amoured SUV.
So this not a new way.
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There has been an amendment to the SM Jaleel statement. It's the above, but now with the following paragraphs near the end:
Trinidad Juice is officially exported to the US throughout the year. All export containers which were shipped by the Company in 2013 were officially received by the authorized food and beverage company, the last such shipment being received by them in November. This December shipment referred to last night by ABC TV Channel 13 was not made by SM Jaleel.
To date neither the Narcotics Bureau of the TTPS nor Trinidad customs have been contacted by the US authorizes. From this we can deduce that this is a foreign issue which will be resolved abroad.
Full Statement: http://www.smjaleel.net/news-events/trinidad-juices-announcement
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its on a CNC journalist twitter that DEA is in the country to make arrests and possible extradition applications to be heard tonight
Sent by Sr. Luna and his boss. (http://www.justice.gov/dea/divisions/car/car_sac.shtml#asac)
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Warn me about the diego pub please lol. Not that surprising if you draw together the rise in murders - the bigger the prize the bigger risks willing to be taken. Guns arent cheap, so if someones importing so many they must have a reason to need them, and protecting a lot of cocaine is one reason. You also gotta wonder if port officials are part of the corruption, or whether it goes higher.
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Yankee go do the job of what the Trini suppose to do. This time it have no paying off man to get away
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(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1/1527042_10151931659860888_1711541857_n.jpg)
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I now beginning to understand how some people in T&T driving round in brand new Aventador and F12 an ting oui
In an economy that isn't growing too.
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I now beginning to understand how some people in T&T driving round in brand new Aventador and F12 an ting oui
In an economy that isn't growing too.
My suspicions are finally confirmed......I keep asking myself how de arse people could buy the pricey real estate and de fancy cars and the economy stagnant since bout 2009/2010.......forget oil and gas.....is de white stuff that running things bout here!!!
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All yuh late is d underground economy that have we still afloat.
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All yuh late is d underground economy that have we still afloat.
touche
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All yuh late is d underground economy that have we still afloat.
touche
double touche
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@hema_ramkissoon's Tweet: https://twitter.com/hema_ramkissoon/status/425387727861727233
Prominent business personality is the focus of investigation by DEA.
. These people killing the country and sleeping well at night
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@hema_ramkissoon's Tweet: https://twitter.com/hema_ramkissoon/status/425387727861727233
Prominent business personality is the focus of investigation by DEA.
. These people killing the country and sleeping well at night
http://www.youtube.com/v/8ps20yaVyro
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@hema_ramkissoon's Tweet: https://twitter.com/hema_ramkissoon/status/425387727861727233
Prominent business personality is the focus of investigation by DEA.
. These people killing the country and sleeping well at night
I am shocked!
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@hema_ramkissoon's Tweet: https://twitter.com/hema_ramkissoon/status/425387727861727233
Prominent business personality is the focus of investigation by DEA.
. These people killing the country and sleeping well at night
http://www.youtube.com/v/8ps20yaVyro
Couldn't sum it up better than Sparrow!
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hearing it might have ah "Monas island connection" ;)......................ah wonder if A S briden go bun dong again :devil:
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hearing it might have ah "Monas island connection" ;)......................ah wonder if A S briden go bun dong again :devil:
if it does have a monos island connection....all hell gon break loose
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Anyone know if the DEA ever landed a big squad like this on our shores before?
50 agents they say.
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hearing it might have ah "Monas island connection" ;)......................ah wonder if A S briden go bun dong again :devil:
if it does have a monos island connection....all hell gon break loose
literally or figuratively :-\ :'(
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hearing it might have ah "Monas island connection" ;)......................ah wonder if A S briden go bun dong again :devil:
:beermug:
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sooo, gimmih ah quick refresher course on dat monos island bachannal again?
it had serious shootout?...or dais whey dey find khoury body without de head? someting so?
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See here Dutty
http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=5930.msg48866#msg48866
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I now beginning to understand how some people in T&T driving round in brand new Aventador and F12 an ting oui
In an economy that isn't growing too.
My suspicions are finally confirmed......I keep asking myself how de arse people could buy the pricey real estate and de fancy cars and the economy stagnant since bout 2009/2010.......forget oil and gas.....is de white stuff that running things bout here!!!
Brent Sea crude full year (2013) average of over $107 / barrel. That never hurt T&T economy yet. live it up!
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Anyone know if the DEA ever landed a big squad like this on our shores before?
50 agents they say.
Never heard of a big squad like that landed, but I heard they do have a resident team that handles the caribbean and the base of operations is in Trinidad I think since 2001.
Remember Gocking.
They first try to bring in the Navigators, then Marlon got shot dead in Town then not long after they found liquid cocaine in juice cans in the bar in Deigo. I feel there is a link somewhere there.
Also funny how small Trinidad is I actually knew John O'Sullivan. Big John we used to call him. Now his company being used to export the drugs.....
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How many people in Trinidad ever actually read this?
http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report (http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report)
I find it an interesting read.
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Follow the money :frustrated:
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The corruption starts at the top...who brought in the drugs not them laventy boys..dey don't have that kind of money....the 3 ships that are working well in Brasil and were supposed to be used for drug interdiction...who prevented that purchase.....if I'm a businessman...I would know exactly how many crates or tonnes or barrels of a product basically the exact number of a product I'm shipping...de say way de drugs exiting the country is de same way de guns entering the country...
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Expect more bodies to drop and a big boy getting pass out in the next few weeks.
That is a heft amount of money to repay.
Worse yet if somebody squeals.
But they have plenty fetes to launder the money and they have to let those pass.
Watch for SOE in Lent.
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Expect more bodies to drop and a big boy getting pass out in the next few weeks.
That is a heft amount of money to repay.
Worse yet if somebody squeals.
But they have plenty fetes to launder the money and they have to let those pass.
Watch for SOE in Lent.
Wit or witout curfew?
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(https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1016543_10152132485825546_956287219_n.jpg)
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"Jake, Jake, My Jake!"
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll314/Chunkycj/1521887_578959165524214_553628072_n_zps6f07727f.jpg)
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How many people in Trinidad ever actually read this?
http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report (http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report)
I find it an interesting read.
Excellent post... I never read it, just spent the better part of the last 2 hours reading it. They call real names. Here's the direct link:
http://pdfcast.org/download/scott-drug-report.pdf#
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Before They Go Too Far
By Sunity Maharaj
Story Created: Jan 18, 2014 at 8:58 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jan 18, 2014 at 8:58 PM ECT
With scandal piling on plunder and the national course locked on to Destination Uncertain, life in T&T remains lost in limbo where nothing is ever known for a fact and nothing comes out of everything.
Unresolved, unclear, unknown might, on a jaundiced day, better describe the national state of affairs than discipline, production and tolerance. On issues from O’Halloran to Galbaransingh, truth dwells in a twilight zone, sipping champagne one step away from bread and water. It is as if in Independence, all the tools developed for surviving the terrors of our history have now come to overwhelm us, keeping us chained to the past and robbing us of the self-confidence to face the world confidently, squarely and without ambiguity. Instead, we remain slaves to the codes of our old world, still the Anansi, still masking, still hiding inside the language of double entendre, afraid to raise our gaze, look them squarely in the eye and declare in recognition that, yes, “Mas, I know you!”
Take the latest cocaine bust involving drugs found by US authorities in tins with a Trinidad product label. Hard experience has taught us the cynical lesson that this, too, shall pass without us ever knowing the truth of origin. In the end, all we are likely to be left holding will be David Rudder’s immortal observation that “somebody letting the cocaine pass”.
Once again, we have political ineptitude to thank for this.
Twenty five years ago, our feeble attempt to get on top of the drug trade was blown apart with the release of the Scott Drug Report by the NAR administration. The hodgepodge of information, allegation and accusation collated by the Commission of Enquiry established by George Chambers was an explosive draft description of the drug trade with details about those supposedly in the know and involved. Having denounced the Chambers administration’s failure to release the Commission’s report, the NAR government followed through on its campaign pledge of full disclosure, using the cover of parliamentary privilege to escape the legal fall-out of libel and slander in publicising the report.
For about a week, the Scott Drug report was a burning topic of national outrage, tongues wagging furiously with the names of politicians, businesspeople and police officers supposedly involved. Then, with nowhere left to go, it fizzled and died, taking with it any hope for prosecution due to the tainting by public release of uncorroborated statements.
If, in 1987, we were blessedly innocent about how to tame the multi-tentacled monster of drugs, by 2013 we have laundered our consciences to live with it. We no longer ask where the money comes from; we ask only ‘how much?’
For a country that has been heavily affected by the drug trade, we remain remarkably innocent about the details of how it functions here. The bone-chilling theories espoused by UWI researcher Darius Figueria about drugs, politics and US foreign policy in T&T are among a minute body of literature on the subject.
For the most part, however, we remain in the dark about the impact of the drug trade on our society, economy and politics, content to dwell only on its symptomatic expressions. No state description of the national economy takes the drug trade into account even when it might explain certain economic phenomena, such as the prices of imported goods, rapid expansion of certain import businesses and the relative absence of a black market for foreign exchange. Similarly, data on the relationship between the drug trade and crime is notoriously superficial, tending to stop at the foothills of Morvant-Laventille. If Morvant-Laventille were indeed the heart and centre of the drug trade, it would be a city of mansions. Just consider the mark-up that the Virginia police put on the shipment from Trinidad last week by estimating the wholesale value of the 732 lbs of cocaine at US$12 million with a street value of US$100 million.
In the politics, where the prevailing doctrine is money with no questions asked, there is even less interest in plumbing the source of the money supply. More than anything else, however, it is the politics, with its high demand for campaign finance, that runs the risk of entrenching drug barons firmly in power and, even, high office.
Worse, it is taxpayers’ money, leaving the treasury in the form of state contract payments, that can be used to launder their operations and establish them in the business landscape of Trinidad and Tobago, their names held up in bright lights as the face of Successful T&T, role models for generations to come.
The paradox of our politics is that even those who yearn to change it are consumed at the point of entry. To engage the politics on its own terms is to surrender the hope for change and to be lost even before you start.
Already, as we approach the final year of this Bissessar-Persad administration, the horses are lining up. The men and women vying for our vote are on their knees before the captains of money, competing for cash to pad the campaign war chest.
Before they go too far and consign us to another long season of quarrel and contestation, they must be stopped. Only we, the people, have the power to do so by rejecting the politics of freeness sponsored by wall-to-wall advertising. We, the electorate, have it within our hands to free our political representatives from the albatross of the political financiers.
We can do so by ourselves rejecting the free ride, insisting that they declare the source of every cent collected and spent, and by forcing them to turn down the volume of wine and jam. Then we must demand that they engage us, citizen-to-citizen, in detailed dialogue about how each of them intends to deal with the many challenges of our time. After we talk, we will evaluate the options and, only then, should we choose.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/Before-They-Go-Too-Far-241028531.html
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So the government have given permission for the DEA to conduct investigation in T&T?
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So the government have given permission for the DEA to conduct investigation in T&T?
I was wondering when this question would arise. Not too long ago, JW made a reference to concessions of sovereignty in a comment in which he alluded to Eric Williams rolling in his grave.
Anyway, thank Mr. Panday.
http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/bureaus/lat/1996/960301BurnsTrinidad1.html
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So the government have given permission for the DEA to conduct investigation in T&T?
I was wondering when this question would arise. Not too long ago, JW made a reference to concessions of sovereignty in a comment in which he alluded to Eric Williams rolling in his grave.
Anyway, thank Mr. Panday.
http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/bureaus/lat/1996/960301BurnsTrinidad1.html
Damn straight, it tells you one of two things
1) they caved to unreasonable demands
2) they believe their own force to be too corrupt to undertake the investigation
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So the government have given permission for the DEA to conduct investigation in T&T?
I was wondering when this question would arise. Not too long ago, JW made a reference to concessions of sovereignty in a comment in which he alluded to Eric Williams rolling in his grave.
Anyway, thank Mr. Panday.
http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/bureaus/lat/1996/960301BurnsTrinidad1.html
Damn straight, it tells you one of two things
1) they caved to unreasonable demands
2) they believe their own force to be too corrupt to undertake the investigation
while number 2 is damn true..............1 gets my vote..............its not the first time a UNC gov't surrendered aspects of this countries sovereignty....or buckled weakly to foreign pressure................and I dont think they want the DEA here either, but they may feel they have no choice
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Such discoveries should bring further into scrutiny the decision to out-rightly discard the procurement of the OVP (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/OPV_DEAL_EXPOSED-179831481.html)
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Such discoveries should bring further into scrutiny the decision to out-rightly discard the procurement of the OVP (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/OPV_DEAL_EXPOSED-179831481.html)
:beermug:
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accoring to Speak Out T&T facebook page....
****EXCLUSIVE ONLY ON Speak Out T&T****
THE NAMES
Ishwar Galbaransingh, Jack Warner, Johnny Soong,. We have more EXCLUSIVE DETAILS #cocainejuice
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accoring to Speak Out T&T facebook page....
****EXCLUSIVE ONLY ON Speak Out T&T****
THE NAMES
Ishwar Galbaransingh, Jack Warner, Johnny Soong. We have more EXCLUSIVE DETAILS #cocainejuice
Saw it give them credit they were 1st to report bout d DEA being here.
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I now beginning to understand how some people in T&T driving round in brand new Aventador and F12 an ting oui
In an economy that isn't growing too.
My suspicions are finally confirmed......I keep asking myself how de arse people could buy the pricey real estate and de fancy cars and the economy stagnant since bout 2009/2010.......forget oil and gas.....is de white stuff that running things bout here!!!
Brent Sea crude full year (2013) average of over $107 / barrel. That never hurt T&T economy yet. live it up!
1 Production is actually down
2. Not all of our oil in Brent Sweet Crude
3. We sell more gas than oil
4. The energy sector employs only 2% of the labour force.
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accoring to Speak Out T&T facebook page....
****EXCLUSIVE ONLY ON Speak Out T&T****
THE NAMES
Ishwar Galbaransingh, Jack Warner, Johnny Soong. We have more EXCLUSIVE DETAILS #cocainejuice
Saw it give them credit they were 1st to report bout d DEA being here.
My word!
They done delete the names but it is available to be seen on google's cached page.
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accoring to Speak Out T&T facebook page....
****EXCLUSIVE ONLY ON Speak Out T&T****
THE NAMES
Ishwar Galbaransingh, Jack Warner, Johnny Soong. We have more EXCLUSIVE DETAILS #cocainejuice
Saw it give them credit they were 1st to report bout d DEA being here.
My word!
They done delete the names but it is available to be seen on google's cached page.
Y if they sure why they delete?
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accoring to Speak Out T&T facebook page....
****EXCLUSIVE ONLY ON Speak Out T&T****
THE NAMES
Ishwar Galbaransingh, Jack Warner, Johnny Soong. We have more EXCLUSIVE DETAILS #cocainejuice
Saw it give them credit they were 1st to report bout d DEA being here.
My word!
They done delete the names but it is available to be seen on google's cached page.
if dat have any kinda truth, alyuh feel Anand goh try to pull ah nex' smartman move on d US... alyuh tink he and gov't have d balls to pull ah next legal stunt
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accoring to Speak Out T&T facebook page....
****EXCLUSIVE ONLY ON Speak Out T&T****
THE NAMES
Ishwar Galbaransingh, Jack Warner, Johnny Soong. We have more EXCLUSIVE DETAILS #cocainejuice
Saw it give them credit they were 1st to report bout d DEA being here.
My word!
They done delete the names but it is available to be seen on google's cached page.
Y if they sure why they delete?
There were comments to the fact of respecting the ongoing process and that calling names at this stage was not wise.
Also ppl saying they hope they have court clothes.
ETA
Speak Out T&T Brian Singh a claim was made about the post to Facebook. We're sorting that out. Stay tuned.
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Hope them names is true
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Not a sniff yet (pun intended). However, I see that the DEA bust a big coke ring with a Jamaican connection.
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How many people in Trinidad ever actually read this?
http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report (http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report)
I find it an interesting read.
Excellent post... I never read it, just spent the better part of the last 2 hours reading it. They call real names. Here's the direct link:
http://pdfcast.org/download/scott-drug-report.pdf#
Like Sunity read meh post too!......haha.
Like you, I couldn't stop reading it and it partly explains why we have so much problems in the country now.
The only problem I had was how easy it was to call out police names when others were only mentioned as "a beauty queen" or "a government minister."
While reading it, it was amazing how the same names mentioned then ("as hearsay"), came up in later years as big headlines in T&T.
e.g men like Tooks and Bulls, Dole Chadee and Mantoor and Deochan Ramdhanie. Questions then also arise about the murders of ACP Carrington and Selwyn Richardson.
Check this one out.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna_Maharaj (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna_Maharaj)
"7.31 The Commission has also heard evidence to the effect that Krishna Maharaj and Adam
Rosein, both of whom are allegedly Trinidad and Tobago nationals, have been domiciled in Miami
for the past two (2) years where they operate a business known as the KDM Enterprise in partnership
with one Derek Mooyoung, a Jamaican, who has been described as a well-known drug dealer. It was
stated that Mahara] and Hosein have been visiting Trinidad very frequently during the past two (2)
or three (3) years and that they each maintain suites on a full time basis at the Holiday Inn in Port of-
Spain."
that should be required reading for all citizens...i save a copy of it if anybody wants to read it...i noticed that two names from that report that still around today are William Munro and Ramesh Maharaj
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that should be required reading for all citizens...i save a copy of it if anybody wants to read it...i noticed that two names from that report that still around today are William Munro and Ramesh Maharaj
Isn't that Munro de same Grenadian fella who running Soca Monarch?
Ramesh brother still around too... except he rotting in jail in Florida. De Brits and dem swear he get set up fuh killing he Jamaican pardna and he son http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/krishnamaharaj/
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that should be required reading for all citizens...i save a copy of it if anybody wants to read it...i noticed that two names from that report that still around today are William Munro and Ramesh Maharaj
Isn't that Munro de same Grenadian fella who running Soca Monarch?
Ramesh brother still around too... except he rotting in jail in Florida. De Brits and dem swear he get set up fuh killing he Jamaican pardna and he son http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/krishnamaharaj/
it has to be him
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that should be required reading for all citizens...i save a copy of it if anybody wants to read it...i noticed that two names from that report that still around today are William Munro and Ramesh Maharaj
Isn't that Munro de same Grenadian fella who running Soca Monarch?
Yup......the same one that have half the government Ministries sponsoring Soca Monarch......
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How many people in Trinidad ever actually read this?
http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report (http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report)
I find it an interesting read.
Interesting is an understatement.
I wonder if anybody in here name in the report? :whistling:
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How many people in Trinidad ever actually read this?
http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report (http://www.workersunion.org.tt/our-history/historical-documents-1/scott-drug-report)
I find it an interesting read.
Interesting is an understatement.
I wonder if anybody in here name in the report? :whistling:
The question is why it is one of them newspapers ent print it, in serial form even. The juicy part pick up from about page 19-20.
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Griffith: No requests from US to extradite anyone
trinidadexpress.com
TWO key Cabinet ministers yesterday denied receiving any request from the United States government to extradite anyone in connection with the $644 million cocaine bust by US Customs in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 20.
“We have received no such information from the US authorities on any such extradition matter and neither any official who is involved in any intelligence agency at this time has any knowledge about that,” National Security Minister Gary Griffith told the Express yesterday. In fact, he said if provisional warrants were to be issued, he would definitely have been in the loop since the Central Authority would then pass on the arrest warrants to his ministry, which would then execute them with the help of local law-enforcement officers.
“I think I would be part of that circle being involved. As of this time, we have no such knowledge. I think it might also involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and maybe the Central Authority that will then fall under the purview of the Attorney General, but as of this time the Ministry of National Security still has no knowledge of any such request and I am sure the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in the dark,” he said.
There are cases where the US State Department can make a direct request to the Central Authority as well, he added.
“As of now, we have received no diplomatic note on this matter and that is where it stands,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Dookeran, when he spoke at the tea break in Parliament yesterday.
The Guardian, Newsday and CNC3 have reported the US Department of Justice had issued a diplomatic note to T&T’s Foreign Affairs Ministry for provisional warrants to be issued for three suspects described as “businessmen”. The reports further claimed the diplomatic note was to be forwarded to the Central Authority, which falls under the Ministry of the Attorney General, who would then issue the provisional warrants for the three suspects.
Dookeran said, “These matters are dealt with within a prescribed formula and we will do so if have to, but we have received no such note.”
High-ranking sources close to the investigation said had such a document been sent, it would have had to pass through the United States Embassy for the Charge D’Affairs to sign off on, before being sent to the Trinidad and Tobago authorities.
Well-placed sources at other agencies also indicated not even the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had any knowledge of such a note being sent by the US State Department.
Contacted yesterday, public affairs officer at the US Embassy in Port of Spain Alexander McLaren said, “I cannot comment on the investigation and I have been getting a lot of calls about this.” McLaren, however, indicated the protocol was that matters of this nature would have to pass through the US Embassy.
The DEA and other local intelligence-gathering agencies are continuing their investigation into the suspects here wanted in connection with the drug bust.
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that should be required reading for all citizens...i save a copy of it if anybody wants to read it...i noticed that two names from that report that still around today are William Munro and Ramesh Maharaj
Isn't that Munro de same Grenadian fella who running Soca Monarch?
Ramesh brother still around too... except he rotting in jail in Florida. De Brits and dem swear he get set up fuh killing he Jamaican pardna and he son http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/krishnamaharaj/
that should be required reading for all citizens...i save a copy of it if anybody wants to read it...i noticed that two names from that report that still around today are William Munro and Ramesh Maharaj
Haha.....Ent! :whistling:
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Then yuh read shit like this from Francis Joseph no less... trying to gin up support for the Burroughs was set up (http://www.guardian.co.tt/archives/news/general/2009/07/11/fall-randolph-burroughs) crowd.
It is true that these criminals giving secret evidence could say whatever they want about anybody, but what's damning for me was that Burroughs insisted that he must be notified before any police raids were conducted on suspected drug dealers. Not surprising, many of the raids were fruitless. That and the way he went about undermining and emasculating the Narcotics Squad, while promoting the Flying Squad and it's Kangaroo court-style justice.
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Then yuh read shit like this from Francis Joseph no less... trying to gin up support for the Burroughs was set up (http://www.guardian.co.tt/archives/news/general/2009/07/11/fall-randolph-burroughs) crowd.
Who is Charles?
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Who is Charles?
The State took the evidence of a notorious criminal, Cuthbert “Scotty” Charles, to say that he was present when Burroughs was at Carli Bay, offloading cocaine.
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Who is Charles?
The State took the evidence of a notorious criminal, Cuthbert “Scotty” Charles, to say that he was present when Burroughs was at Carli Bay, offloading cocaine.
Who is Charles?
The State took the evidence of a notorious criminal, Cuthbert “Scotty” Charles, to say that he was present when Burroughs was at Carli Bay, offloading cocaine.
WTH, I losing it yes.
:beermug:
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Anyone remember the Salvatori [sp] incident down de island?
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WTH, I losing it yes.
:beermug:
The bias in Francis Joseph article is readily apparent. It's okay to remind readers of Charles' character... but who else could testify to criminal behavior witnessed other than a fellow criminal? lol
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WTH, I losing it yes.
:beermug:
The bias in Francis Joseph article is readily apparent. It's okay to remind readers of Charles' character... but who else could testify to criminal behavior witnessed other than a fellow criminal? lol
Yeah, he work real hard to try and dust off Burroughs. Growing up it was "common knowledge" that Burroughs and them was corrupt, that they did whatever they wanted.
Our area was known for weed and they use to touch down on a regular basis in they helicopter. As kids we use to run when we saw a helicopter and say Burroughs coming to kill we. lol
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UWI lecturer on $644m cocaine bust: Mexican cartels infiltrate T&T
By Charles Kong Soo (Guardian).
University of the West Indies (UWI) criminology lecturer Daurius Figueira says the $644 million cocaine bust hidden in juice cans intercepted by US Customs officers at Norfolk, Virginia, USA, is the wakeup call that T&T has been infiltrated by the Mexican drug cartel. Figueira is also the author of the book, Cocaine Trafficking in The Caribbean & West Africa in the Era of The Mexican cartels.
Speaking to the Sunday Guardian in a telephone interview last week, he said: “That shipment has all the hallmarks of a Mexican drug cartel operation, its fingerprints are all over it. “That is the wakeup call for T&T. The Mexican cartels have already infiltrated the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Eastern Caribbean, Belize, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos islands, US Virgin Islands. It’s T&T’s time now, and Jamaica’s turn is next.”
Figueira said the Mexican drug cartels’ strategy was to use the Caribbean to move their product not only to West Africa and Europe, but also to the eastern seaboard of the USA and Canada. He said for the first time in the history of the Caribbean islands, the Caribbean was becoming fully integrated into drug trafficking towards the world. Figueira said cocaine swallowers and mules transported the drug in “modest” quantities to Canada and the US,but drug dealers were using containerised cargo to ship cocaine in massive quantities.
He said the cocaine shipment that the US interdicted was not the work of small-scale players, where three or four people got some cans and “tried something” by filling them with cocaine and selling them. Figueira said it was a well-organised, industrial smuggling operation.
Dealers use mould to press cocaine into shape
Unlike the liquid cocaine in a Pear D soft drink bottle that caused the death of Royal Navy veteran Joromie Lewis in the United Kingdom in December 2013, the cocaine intercepted in the Virginia drug bust was not dissolved, it was moulded to fit cans labeled Trinidad Orange and Grapefruit juices. He said that meant the drug dealers had a mould to press the cocaine in that circular shape.
Local manufacturer SM Jaleel and Company Ltd, which also makes the Pear D soft drink brand, stated on its Web site that it did not export the container of juices in which some 732 pounds of cocaine was concealed in. Sinaloa, Los Zetas cartels in the Caribbean
Figueira said the Sinaloa and Los Zetas were the two dominant Mexican cartels present in the Caribbean today. He said when they were moving through the islands, their leaders remained nameless and faceless.
Figueira said the Mexican drug cartels’ policy was that in every market that they established, they also became involved in retailing drugs, guns, trafficking, prostitution, and the smuggling of counterfeit goods. He said they were moving people through the Caribbean, carrying them into Central America, into Mexico, and then smuggling them across the border into the US.
How the Mexicans operate
Figueira said the Mexican drug cartels used two strategies to set up their trafficking operations; They corrupted the military and police and took the local gangs to be their affiliates. He said members of the military/police were also offered trafficking franchises as Mexican cartels preferred to corrupt and recruit them rather than politicians who were transitory.
Figueira said Mexican cartels also formed alliances with the narco-trafficking elites and gangs, offering them lucrative deals and drug franchises that were much better than those offered by the Colombians and Venezuelans. He said some members of these elites had made the fatal mistake of treating the Mexicans as inferiors. Figueira said once the Mexican cartels had established their links with gangs and others, they moved to physically eliminate the local elites with deliberate violence such as beheadings to leave as a sign.
He said this was how the Mexican cartels radically changed the social order of the illicit trades in a narco-trafficking state, instilling a new order in which the State was forced to perpetually battle for its survival because it had lost its capacity to maintain law and order.
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Ah not too thrilled by that rendition above.
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Mexico cartel hadda move all that product down south just to get it back the US? All the while adding on costs of bribing officials and logistics throughout all those contracts they moving their product in? I call BS on that one. Colombia has enough cocaine and the last time I checked, they supplied 80 percent of the world's cocaine. Mexico has enough suppliers being so close to the US border. Mexican gangs wouldn't be allowed to gain influence all the way down south.
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Mexico cartel hadda move all that product down south just to get it back the US? All the while adding on costs of bribing officials and logistics throughout all those contracts they moving their product in? I call BS on that one. Colombia has enough cocaine and the last time I checked, they supplied 80 percent of the world's cocaine. Mexico has enough suppliers being so close to the US border. Mexican gangs wouldn't be allowed to gain influence all the way down south.
I think you massively underestimate the profits involved - Mexico is a mafiocracy, ruled by several prominent cartels funded by drug money. Their market is the US, and the Mexican-US boarder is increasingly militarised every day. When a single shipment can be worth millions of dollars, what's 10k to bribe an official and 15k in transport?
The incentive is to minimise the risk of the shipments being caught - being caught can lead back to you as well as lead to the loss of millions. In such a scenario, it's much safer to go through a number of intermediaries in different countries.
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Trinidad and Tobago’s international trade reputation will not be negatively impacted despite the $644 million cocaine bust in the United States last month from a container originating in Port of Spain, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday.
“We were able through allies to bust this container of goods, unfortunately with a Trinidad and Tobago name on it. We still don’t know if it was something done here or elsewhere; that is under investigation. The shipment may have left T&T, but what transpired after that is still sensitive and still under investigation. Certainly there will be concerns, but I’m not sure we will be impacted so negatively that we will be branded everywhere and blocked everywhere and I’m fortified in that view that the manufacturer was able to show these labels were counterfeit, and that the shipment was not made by them.
“Every nation in the world has issues with narco-trafficking and therefore it’s (about) our response now. We learn every day,” the Prime Minister told reporters at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port of Spain, before she delivered the feature address at the launch of the National Week of Prayer.
This was her first official statement since the story broke two weeks ago that Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officers at the Port of Norfolk in the US state of Virginia seized 732 pounds of cocaine concealed in cans bearing the labels of SM Jaleel product Trinidad Orange and Grapefruit juices on December 20 last year.
The wholesale value of the cocaine is about US$12 million and has a street value of as much as US$100 million, according to Customs officials.
The PM refrained from commenting further, but endorsed the “information lock down” advocated by National Security Minister Gary Griffith pertaining to news on the progress of investigations.
“The matter is under investigation. It is sensitive and it would be inappropriate to comment on it at this time... I think with this being such a sensitive matter, information should be shared on a need to know basis. Therefore, this blanket in terms of sharing information is on lock down; I think it’s a good strategy because we’ve seen in the past where leakages could lead to compromising of the investigation,” Persad-Bissessar said, adding she read an article earlier that the region was becoming the number one transshipment point for illegal drugs destined for Europe and North America.
“I don’t think it’s a new factor but certainly Trinidad is being used more and more; our geographic location, I suppose, may be a reason we are targeted,” she said.
Last week, Griffith said he was invoking a “gag order” on the media and officials from reporting any new information on investigations by local and US law enforcement.
He and Cabinet colleagues Trade Minister Vasant Bharath, Communications Minister Gerald Hadeed, Tourism Minister Chandresh Sharma and National Diversity Minister Rodger Samuel were also at NAPA.
Griffith said since the bust, current border security protocol had “most definitely” been reviewed.
“We have been ahead of the game but also it shows the importance to have a legitimate port of entry security which is what we have been putting in place through scanners, canine and other security initiatives at this point in time,” he said.
A $25 million scanner to examine import containers—purchased through a Chinese grant under the condition that the product purchased was made in China—is currently being installed at the Port of Port of Spain.
Bharath, who last Monday said export containers are not traditionally checked by Customs before leaving the country, added that the division is still examining the ways to “close all loopholes regarding that”.
He added that three scanners that were to be acquired through US aid last year were delayed because of regulatory issues that had to be approved by the US Senate, but that has been received and the scanners are expected in June.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/PM-Every-nation-has-narco-trafficking-issues-242154331.html (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/PM-Every-nation-has-narco-trafficking-issues-242154331.html)
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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=582426238510840
Embed Please .
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Since this story broke the entire nation was wondering how long Kamla would remain silent on this issue....now that she finally spoke we're wishing she kept her mouth shut. What a buffoon :clown:
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I'm sure the government won't have much trouble blocking leakages, they're as transparent as a Point Fortin oil spill
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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=582426238510840
Apologies if I missed this completely, but was it known (before this video above) that this container was headed for New York?
Edit: Disregard. It's in the original article. Apologies.
Although, I don't understand what SM Jaleel are saying here then:
“We have been reliably informed that the container in question was shipped from Port of Spain to Norfolk, Virginia. SM Jaleel & Co ltd ships to the USA with Seaboard Marine from the Point Lisas port to Brooklyn, New York.”
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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=582426238510840
Embed Please .
Kamla... worst thing in ah panty.
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So there was no investigation and no one was monitoring anyone. It's just the port security that made the find.
:-\
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Daurius Figueira - The Drug Trade in Trinidad & Tobago and The Caribbean.
http://www.youtube.com/v/AHWUhLg1JFo
With the news of the US $100 Million cocaine bust at the Port of Norfolk in Virginia, and a visit by 50+ agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to Trinidad & Tobago, Lecturer of Sociology at the University of the West Indies, Daurius Figueira speaks with host of Morning Edition, Fazeer Mohammed, about the role of the Caribbean in the Illicit Drug Trade.
Date of Interview: Thursday 23rd January 2014.
Copyright: Morning Edition - Caribbean Communications Network.
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Daurius Figueira - The Drug Trade in Trinidad & Tobago and The Caribbean.
http://www.youtube.com/v/AHWUhLg1JFo
This fella talk nuff shit. Ah glad ah finally get to hear him fuh mihself because I was ready to give him all kinda pips just last week on the strenght of his book on the subject. Now I see him as self-aggrandizing and passing himself off as some kinda expert, when in reality he playing loose with all kinda facts.
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Daurius Figueira - The Drug Trade in Trinidad & Tobago and The Caribbean.
http://www.youtube.com/v/AHWUhLg1JFo
This fella talk nuff shit. Ah glad ah finally get to hear him fuh mihself because I was ready to give him all kinda pips just last week on the strenght of his book on the subject. Now I see him as self-aggrandizing and passing himself off as some kinda expert, when in reality he playing loose with all kinda facts.
The man went to Steve rumshop and come up with this diatribe
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Daurius Figueira - The Drug Trade in Trinidad & Tobago and The Caribbean.
http://www.youtube.com/v/AHWUhLg1JFo
With the news of the US $100 Million cocaine bust at the Port of Norfolk in Virginia, and a visit by 50+ agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to Trinidad & Tobago, Lecturer of Sociology at the University of the West Indies, Daurius Figueira speaks with host of Morning Edition, Fazeer Mohammed, about the role of the Caribbean in the Illicit Drug Trade.
Date of Interview: Thursday 23rd January 2014.
Copyright: Morning Edition - Caribbean Communications Network.
It so scary that not only all kinda people have access to the media to spread their propaganda but they are also teaching in our institutions and calling themselves experts. This man is all kinda crazy. I sure he never talk to a mexican or colombian informant in his life. Trinis like too much small talk and small fame.
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Mexico cartel hadda move all that product down south just to get it back the US? All the while adding on costs of bribing officials and logistics throughout all those contracts they moving their product in? I call BS on that one. Colombia has enough cocaine and the last time I checked, they supplied 80 percent of the world's cocaine. Mexico has enough suppliers being so close to the US border. Mexican gangs wouldn't be allowed to gain influence all the way down south.
I think you massively underestimate the profits involved - Mexico is a mafiocracy, ruled by several prominent cartels funded by drug money. Their market is the US, and the Mexican-US boarder is increasingly militarised every day. When a single shipment can be worth millions of dollars, what's 10k to bribe an official and 15k in transport?
The incentive is to minimise the risk of the shipments being caught - being caught can lead back to you as well as lead to the loss of millions. In such a scenario, it's much safer to go through a number of intermediaries in different countries.
Steups....Mexico is the only cocaine producing country in Latin America or something? Do you know how difficult it is to move drugs across borders? Everyone taking part assumes some forms of risks. Risks result in an added cost at each point of the transaction. Count how many countries exists between Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. Gangs in Latin america not letting any mexican move product in their own country. They have their own product to move. What sense does it make for mexicans to move product all the way to the caribbean just to get it to America? It makes little sense. Our drugs come from Colombia and Venezuela.
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Trinidad and Tobago’s international trade reputation will not be negatively impacted despite the $644 million cocaine bust in the United States last month from a container originating in Port of Spain, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday.
“We were able through allies to bust this container of goods, unfortunately with a Trinidad and Tobago name on it. We still don’t know if it was something done here or elsewhere; that is under investigation. The shipment may have left T&T, but what transpired after that is still sensitive and still under investigation. Certainly there will be concerns, but I’m not sure we will be impacted so negatively that we will be branded everywhere and blocked everywhere and I’m fortified in that view that the manufacturer was able to show these labels were counterfeit, and that the shipment was not made by them.
“Every nation in the world has issues with narco-trafficking and therefore it’s (about) our response now. We learn every day,” the Prime Minister told reporters at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port of Spain, before she delivered the feature address at the launch of the National Week of Prayer.
This was her first official statement since the story broke two weeks ago that Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officers at the Port of Norfolk in the US state of Virginia seized 732 pounds of cocaine concealed in cans bearing the labels of SM Jaleel product Trinidad Orange and Grapefruit juices on December 20 last year.
The wholesale value of the cocaine is about US$12 million and has a street value of as much as US$100 million, according to Customs officials.
The PM refrained from commenting further, but endorsed the “information lock down” advocated by National Security Minister Gary Griffith pertaining to news on the progress of investigations.
“The matter is under investigation. It is sensitive and it would be inappropriate to comment on it at this time... I think with this being such a sensitive matter, information should be shared on a need to know basis. Therefore, this blanket in terms of sharing information is on lock down; I think it’s a good strategy because we’ve seen in the past where leakages could lead to compromising of the investigation,” Persad-Bissessar said, adding she read an article earlier that the region was becoming the number one transshipment point for illegal drugs destined for Europe and North America.
“I don’t think it’s a new factor but certainly Trinidad is being used more and more; our geographic location, I suppose, may be a reason we are targeted,” she said.
Last week, Griffith said he was invoking a “gag order” on the media and officials from reporting any new information on investigations by local and US law enforcement.
He and Cabinet colleagues Trade Minister Vasant Bharath, Communications Minister Gerald Hadeed, Tourism Minister Chandresh Sharma and National Diversity Minister Rodger Samuel were also at NAPA.
Griffith said since the bust, current border security protocol had “most definitely” been reviewed.
“We have been ahead of the game but also it shows the importance to have a legitimate port of entry security which is what we have been putting in place through scanners, canine and other security initiatives at this point in time,” he said.
A $25 million scanner to examine import containers—purchased through a Chinese grant under the condition that the product purchased was made in China—is currently being installed at the Port of Port of Spain.
Bharath, who last Monday said export containers are not traditionally checked by Customs before leaving the country, added that the division is still examining the ways to “close all loopholes regarding that”.
He added that three scanners that were to be acquired through US aid last year were delayed because of regulatory issues that had to be approved by the US Senate, but that has been received and the scanners are expected in June.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/PM-Every-nation-has-narco-trafficking-issues-242154331.html (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/PM-Every-nation-has-narco-trafficking-issues-242154331.html)
She's a dummy. I say that without any regard or regrets. If you all need any confirmation that Kamla is severely out of touch with reality just read the wiki leaks cable from Trinidad. This woman went to meeting with the Embassy officials with Panday etc a few years back and tell them that the drug of choice in Trinidad is crack cocaine. The people have to correct her and tell her that the drug of choice is high grade marijuana. How can you be a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, former Attorney General and a member of parliament for 20 + years and you don't know what the drug of choice in your own country is? She can't be serious. The blind leading the dumb in this place.
Ps...I find she looking very sick and fragile. She also took a ridiculous amount of time to make a public statement and be even seen in public after this fiasco.
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Mexico cartel hadda move all that product down south just to get it back the US? All the while adding on costs of bribing officials and logistics throughout all those contracts they moving their product in? I call BS on that one. Colombia has enough cocaine and the last time I checked, they supplied 80 percent of the world's cocaine. Mexico has enough suppliers being so close to the US border. Mexican gangs wouldn't be allowed to gain influence all the way down south.
I think you massively underestimate the profits involved - Mexico is a mafiocracy, ruled by several prominent cartels funded by drug money. Their market is the US, and the Mexican-US boarder is increasingly militarised every day. When a single shipment can be worth millions of dollars, what's 10k to bribe an official and 15k in transport?
The incentive is to minimise the risk of the shipments being caught - being caught can lead back to you as well as lead to the loss of millions. In such a scenario, it's much safer to go through a number of intermediaries in different countries.
Steups....Mexico is the only cocaine producing country in Latin America or something? Do you know how difficult it is to move drugs across borders? Everyone taking part assumes some forms of risks. Risks result in an added cost at each point of the transaction. Count how many countries exists between Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. Gangs in Latin america not letting any mexican move product in their own country. They have their own product to move. What sense does it make for mexicans to move product all the way to the caribbean just to get it to America? It makes little sense. Our drugs come from Colombia and Venezuela.
Erm 0 countries if you ship by sea? The youtube interviewee seems convinced that Mexican cartels currently control Peruvian cocain, the biggest producers in the region, so it all stands.
It makes complete sense if it's easier to get into America on ships flying a Trini flag than it is Mexican. I'm not sure why you think it's easier to go across the most heavily fortified boarder in the Americas than it is to ship it to Trinidad and Tobago, mould it into cans, and ship it into the US. You need only a cartel based on the Eastern Coast of Mexico really...
Also I'm not saying drugs don't come from Colombia or Venezuela either? I'm talking specifically on the point that you put - that it doesn't make sense to ship drugs via Trinidad to the US. My response was it makes perfect sense if it means they'll reach the Eastern seaboard of the US more reliably.
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Re: Figueroa
Certainly, not the most polished TV presence, particularly in delivery. From a professional viewpoint he trafficked in sensationalism a bit (pun intended). By the same token, it wasn't as much a rigorous interview as it was a conversation. Nonetheless, it's up to Mr. Figueroa to deliver the intellectual rigor as this is a topic on his "ends".
Some sound factual assertions mixed in with diluted authority ... and a procedural faux pas here and there.
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Mexico cartel hadda move all that product down south just to get it back the US? All the while adding on costs of bribing officials and logistics throughout all those contracts they moving their product in? I call BS on that one. Colombia has enough cocaine and the last time I checked, they supplied 80 percent of the world's cocaine. Mexico has enough suppliers being so close to the US border. Mexican gangs wouldn't be allowed to gain influence all the way down south.
I think you massively underestimate the profits involved - Mexico is a mafiocracy, ruled by several prominent cartels funded by drug money. Their market is the US, and the Mexican-US boarder is increasingly militarised every day. When a single shipment can be worth millions of dollars, what's 10k to bribe an official and 15k in transport?
The incentive is to minimise the risk of the shipments being caught - being caught can lead back to you as well as lead to the loss of millions. In such a scenario, it's much safer to go through a number of intermediaries in different countries.
Steups....Mexico is the only cocaine producing country in Latin America or something? Do you know how difficult it is to move drugs across borders? Everyone taking part assumes some forms of risks. Risks result in an added cost at each point of the transaction. Count how many countries exists between Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. Gangs in Latin america not letting any mexican move product in their own country. They have their own product to move. What sense does it make for mexicans to move product all the way to the caribbean just to get it to America? It makes little sense. Our drugs come from Colombia and Venezuela.
Erm 0 countries if you ship by sea? The youtube interviewee seems convinced that Mexican cartels currently control Peruvian cocain, the biggest producers in the region, so it all stands.
It makes complete sense if it's easier to get into America on ships flying a Trini flag than it is Mexican. I'm not sure why you think it's easier to go across the most heavily fortified boarder in the Americas than it is to ship it to Trinidad and Tobago, mould it into cans, and ship it into the US. You need only a cartel based on the Eastern Coast of Mexico really...
Also I'm not saying drugs don't come from Colombia or Venezuela either? I'm talking specifically on the point that you put - that it doesn't make sense to ship drugs via Trinidad to the US. My response was it makes perfect sense if it means they'll reach the Eastern seaboard of the US more reliably.
Shipped directly? I'm pretty sure that any vessel leaving Mexico would be heavily searched and boarded on the open seas. Naval intelligence will quickly pick up on any Mexican group moving a lot of drugs over the open seas towards the caribbean. Drug smuggling is not as easy as it sounds. I am not saying that it's impossible but it's alot of work. A lot of work that basically results in additional costs and risks.
I don't think having a trini flag is better than having a Mexican would decrease the chances of being searched. We are a known major transshipment point. We are constantly being monitored and evaluated. Mexicans don't let anyone in. There is no joint venture to be made. You keep talking about the heavily fortified border between Us and Mexico. That is nothing to get around for the mexicans. They are heavily armed and ruthless as well. The amount of people and cargo that travel between the US and Mexico makes it easy to move product between the countries and makes it difficult to be detected.
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Mexico cartel hadda move all that product down south just to get it back the US? All the while adding on costs of bribing officials and logistics throughout all those contracts they moving their product in? I call BS on that one. Colombia has enough cocaine and the last time I checked, they supplied 80 percent of the world's cocaine. Mexico has enough suppliers being so close to the US border. Mexican gangs wouldn't be allowed to gain influence all the way down south.
I think you massively underestimate the profits involved - Mexico is a mafiocracy, ruled by several prominent cartels funded by drug money. Their market is the US, and the Mexican-US boarder is increasingly militarised every day. When a single shipment can be worth millions of dollars, what's 10k to bribe an official and 15k in transport?
The incentive is to minimise the risk of the shipments being caught - being caught can lead back to you as well as lead to the loss of millions. In such a scenario, it's much safer to go through a number of intermediaries in different countries.
Steups....Mexico is the only cocaine producing country in Latin America or something? Do you know how difficult it is to move drugs across borders? Everyone taking part assumes some forms of risks. Risks result in an added cost at each point of the transaction. Count how many countries exists between Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. Gangs in Latin america not letting any mexican move product in their own country. They have their own product to move. What sense does it make for mexicans to move product all the way to the caribbean just to get it to America? It makes little sense. Our drugs come from Colombia and Venezuela.
Erm 0 countries if you ship by sea? The youtube interviewee seems convinced that Mexican cartels currently control Peruvian cocain, the biggest producers in the region, so it all stands.
It makes complete sense if it's easier to get into America on ships flying a Trini flag than it is Mexican. I'm not sure why you think it's easier to go across the most heavily fortified boarder in the Americas than it is to ship it to Trinidad and Tobago, mould it into cans, and ship it into the US. You need only a cartel based on the Eastern Coast of Mexico really...
Also I'm not saying drugs don't come from Colombia or Venezuela either? I'm talking specifically on the point that you put - that it doesn't make sense to ship drugs via Trinidad to the US. My response was it makes perfect sense if it means they'll reach the Eastern seaboard of the US more reliably.
Shipped directly? I'm pretty sure that any vessel leaving Mexico would be heavily searched and boarded on the open seas. Naval intelligence will quickly pick up on any Mexican group moving a lot of drugs over the open seas towards the caribbean. Drug smuggling is not as easy as it sounds. I am not saying that it's impossible but it's alot of work. A lot of work that basically results in additional costs and risks.
I don't think having a trini flag is better than having a Mexican would decrease the chances of being searched. We are a known major transshipment point. We are constantly being monitored and evaluated. Mexicans don't let anyone in. There is no joint venture to be made. You keep talking about the heavily fortified border between Us and Mexico. That is nothing to get around for the mexicans. They are heavily armed and ruthless as well. The amount of people and cargo that travel between the US and Mexico makes it easy to move product between the countries and makes it difficult to be detected.
By UN Declaration the open seas are just that - they're safe when outside national maritime boarders in that regard, so the real issues are the port and relatively brief periods of being in national boarders. Flags can count a lot in terms of boarding - depending on the agreements and such. Other islands in the Caribbean are already known for their drug problem, so having a flag without that baggage could be the difference between a search and not, especially from one of the US's largest LNG suppliers.
I think your arguments on the armouries and ruthlessness of them can easily be applied to their methods outside of that region. The current political climate probably outweighs the potential advantage of travelling in a well-traversed boarder. Moreover, well-traversed boarders are more likely to have resources sustaining more thorough policies, such as sniffer dogs, under-car mirrors and other methods of detection. Conversely, small-time shipping ports or less-traveled routes are likely to have less eyes upon then.
In the end, I plead ignorance to the more complex issues surrounding it - got nothing but my opinion to back most of the above. But on the specific point of 'why would they use Trinidad', I think there are a number of good reasons, especially if you can cheaply bribe port officials and workers
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This fella talk nuff shit. Ah glad ah finally get to hear him fuh mihself because I was ready to give him all kinda pips just last week on the strenght of his book on the subject. Now I see him as self-aggrandizing and passing himself off as some kinda expert, when in reality he playing loose with all kinda facts.
Coming back to this... this is why I can't take this joker seriously:
1. UWI lecturer on $644m cocaine bust: Mexican cartels infiltrate T&T
By Charles Kong Soo (Guardian).
University of the West Indies (UWI) criminology lecturer Daurius Figueira says the $644 million cocaine bust hidden in juice cans intercepted by US Customs officers at Norfolk, Virginia, USA, is the wakeup call that T&T has been infiltrated by the Mexican drug cartel. Figueira is also the author of the book, Cocaine Trafficking in The Caribbean & West Africa in the Era of The Mexican cartels.
Speaking to the Sunday Guardian in a telephone interview last week, he said: “That shipment has all the hallmarks of a Mexican drug cartel operation, its fingerprints are all over it. “That is the wakeup call for T&T. The Mexican cartels have already infiltrated the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Eastern Caribbean, Belize, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos islands, US Virgin Islands. It’s T&T’s time now, and Jamaica’s turn is next.”
He says this, but in the interview stresses that the drug of choice of the Mexicans is Methamphetamines, not cocaine. He did also say that the Mexicans control the Peruvian cocaine production, so in fairness to him maybe that was the implication.
2. "If the cocaine originates from a country or a group with known terrorist ties, then all of a sudden transporting the drugs to America becomes a terrorist act. You could find yourself in Guantanamo Bay." He then goes on to cite an example of some fellas getting caught on the high seas and being taken to Guantanamo Bay.
He throws out "Operation Martillo", but in his ignorance he fails to make the connection as to why the traffickers are taken to Guantanamo Bay. Operation Martillo (http://www.southcom.mil/newsroom/Pages/Operation-Martillo.aspx) is a joint operation between European, American and Central American forces, but led by the US Military's Southern Command... an amalgam of Naval, Army, Marine, Air Force and Coast Guard units. Guantanamo Bay is under the direction of the Southern Command, whose focus is on Central America, the Caribbean and South America. It's only natural that they'd be the ones to get involved. Guantanamo Bay is not only home to the infamous detention facility, but home to a thriving Naval base in existence for over a hundred years. In fact, the detention camp is only 11 or 12 years old... and Fazeer shows his ignorance (and I use that in a benign way) for asking "weren't they supposed to be closing Guantanamo Bay"... no Fazeer, just the detention camp. Doh get the Cubans too excited for no reason.
3. "The American Methodology is simple- once the gentleman cracked open that bottle of "Pear D" and died in England... de alerts went out!"
Ponder that sentence for a minute. See if you can parse from it the "American methodology". And he's clear in describing it as "simple"... which means for an expert like him, it's clear as day to see how the Americans think and act. Except we don't get the benefit of that insight... perhaps because it is lacking.
4. Similarly, he was asked about why the Mexican cartels would want to ship their meth from Mexico all the way down to Trinidad. He never answered, instead he went on a Sunday drive about how the Mexican cartels operate and how they are different from the Colombians, and how they all in China. One might be tempted to inquire about the price of tea there, in deciphering just what the hell this man talking about.
Perhaps he meant the Mexican cartels' cocaine coming up from Peru, but he never explained. Another explanation might be Operation Martillo and the effect it has had on the shipment of drugs off the coast of Central America and in the Caribbean Sea. This has ostensibly pushed shipment routes further east towards the Caribbean archipelago, as a conduit to the North. But that wouldn't explain their presence in TnT... which would seem to discredit his theory.
5. "The DEA's main purpose in Trinidad is to prevent the fleeing of those persons of interest to them"
Undeniably one of the biggest crock of shite ever. The DEA is here to investigate, they cannot prevent anybody from getting on a plane. He even concedes as much when Fazeer challenged him on that ("can they do that?") by stating "well it depends on the local law enforcement". He also made a very controversial statement right at the start that the "standard operating procedure for the DEA is that you on a 'need to know' basis." The implication is that they don't have to share info with local law enforcement if they don't want to. That is a clear contravention of the agreement by which they could even enter into the country and begin joint investigations. They are not here on their own. Now of course if they suspect the info might be compromised by sharing it, they can withold it, and diplomatic channels would have to be employed to address any resulting impasse. On that point he half got it right.
Bottom line de fella is a blowhard who trying to set himself up as not only AN expert on drug trafficking in the Caribbean, but as THE expert in Trinidad. He stroking he own ego with every utterance, bout he "monitoring the situation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year." Like we eh know is sit he siddung on de internet like anybody else reading stuff from here and there.
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The scary thing is that I wouldn't doubt for one second that national security policy is formed on the opinions from "experts" like him.
Trinis love to live in movie land. I read in the express recently where it was claimed that female assassins were on their way from Colombia to deal with the people who talking. Apparently they arrived on a yacht a couple days ago. What frightens me is the reporter who got told this info and actually decided to replicate it in written form for the world to read. Some pillow talk must be left at home.
Another thing I can't understand is the belief that ONE man could be controlling crime and all illicit activities. This never ending search for Mr Big. Even the former Prime Minister acknowledged his existence. It's time we joined the rest of the world and put down the remote. Too much movie life.
I like how he keeps talking about the mexican cartels like some major multicorporation that has a 20 year strategic plan. Most cartel bosses not thinking that far ahead. They just trying to remain alive and out of jail. The leaders are constantly either killed or arrested. They don't get chance to plan expansion when they trying to fight off inner power struggles and other cartels vying for their territory. Cartels are constantly splintering. Global domination isn't on their to-do list.
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The scary thing is that I wouldn't doubt for one second that national security policy is formed on the opinions from "experts" like him.
Trinis love to live in movie land. I read in the express recently where it was claimed that female assassins were on their way from Colombia to deal with the people who talking. Apparently they arrived on a yacht a couple days ago. What frightens me is the reporter who got told this info and actually decided to replicate it in written form for the world to read. Some pillow talk must be left at home.
Another thing I can't understand is the belief that ONE man could be controlling crime and all illicit activities. This never ending search for Mr Big. Even the former Prime Minister acknowledged his existence. It's time we joined the rest of the world and put down the remote. Too much movie life.
I like how he keeps talking about the mexican cartels like some major multicorporation that has a 20 year strategic plan. Most cartel bosses not thinking that far ahead. They just trying to remain alive and out of jail. The leaders are constantly either killed or arrested. They don't get chance to plan expansion when they trying to fight off inner power struggles and other cartels vying for their territory. Cartels are constantly splintering. Global domination isn't on their to-do list.
yup, look they hold "el tio" today
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/28/mexican-forces-catch-notorious-drugs-cartel-leader
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Bottom line de fella is a blowhard who trying to set himself up as not only AN expert on drug trafficking in the Caribbean, but as THE expert in Trinidad. He stroking he own ego with every utterance, bout he "monitoring the situation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year." Like we eh know is sit he siddung on de internet like anybody else reading stuff from here and there.
If yuh feel up tuh it, try and read one of his books, and see how far yuh get. I wasn't able. Clarity is not one of his gifts.
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Academics aren't known for the quality of their interviews - the guy's current research is all in this field, so I wouldn't dismiss his arguments so casually.
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Bottom line de fella is a blowhard who trying to set himself up as not only AN expert on drug trafficking in the Caribbean, but as THE expert in Trinidad. He stroking he own ego with every utterance, bout he "monitoring the situation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year." Like we eh know is sit he siddung on de internet like anybody else reading stuff from here and there.
If yuh feel up tuh it, try and read one of his books, and see how far yuh get. I wasn't able. Clarity is not one of his gifts.
LOL
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Academics aren't known for the quality of their interviews - the guy's current research is all in this field, so I wouldn't dismiss his arguments so casually.
In the absence of better information or other expert opinion, this one line by Tiresais makes the most sense to me.
While I accept that expert opinion is the lowest form of evidence, some of Figueira's points might have some merit....
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If yuh feel up tuh it, try and read one of his books, and see how far yuh get. I wasn't able. Clarity is not one of his gifts.
Coming into this week I was seriously about to go look fuh he "Drug Trafficking in the Caribbean" what-it-name book. But nah, he doh need my money. Tiresais, clearly his issues go deeper than an inability to give a "quality" interview. I wouldn't even comment on the fact that he show up for a nationally-televised interview, dressed as if he just out on de verandah batting back some scotch with de boys.
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Re: his attire
Maybe we not being fair. Admittedly, it was somewhat my initial reaction too, but I found that to be amplified by his demeanor. However, the offending causes might be the placement of the mic and the lack of application of an additional button.
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If yuh feel up tuh it, try and read one of his books, and see how far yuh get. I wasn't able. Clarity is not one of his gifts.
Coming into this week I was seriously about to go look fuh he "Drug Trafficking in the Caribbean" what-it-name book. But nah, he doh need my money. Tiresais, clearly his issues go deeper than an inability to give a "quality" interview. I wouldn't even comment on the fact that he show up for a nationally-televised interview, dressed as if he just out on de verandah batting back some scotch with de boys.
To be fair at 6:30am I'd rock up in whatever :p
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JUICE ATTACK?!!
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/JUICE-ATTACK-242503801.html (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/JUICE-ATTACK-242503801.html)
wtf?....wha kinda amateur night dis fiasco devolving into
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Ah hear ah chinee man who big in the local music and feteing industry is invovled.
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Ah hear ah chinee man who big in the local music and feteing industry is invovled.
he didnt pack up and leave some time ago? everyone knows there were more to that shooting
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Ah hear ah chinee man who big in the local music and feteing industry is invovled.
he didnt pack up and leave some time ago? everyone knows there were more to that shooting
Selecta draw dis fi dem:
Rumours dem spreadin
Claim dat ah sensi mi plantin
But I man a de Don inna de jugglin
Ah pure rumours ah gwaan
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Ah hear ah chinee man who big in the local music and feteing industry is invovled.
he didnt pack up and leave some time ago? everyone knows there were more to that shooting
Bigger chinee who smaller
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Ah hear ah chinee man who big in the local music and feteing industry is invovled.
he didnt pack up and leave some time ago? everyone knows there were more to that shooting
Bigger chinee who smaller
SO ON Go the investigation? ;)
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Dat self Elan...
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The little bird say it taking long because of lack of cooperation from some of the main national security players.
Either this thing explode with bacchanal or it fizzle out like a wet squib.... no in betweens.
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Ah hear ah chinee man who big in the local music and feteing industry is invovled.
he didnt pack up and leave some time ago? everyone knows there were more to that shooting
Bigger chinee who smaller
SO ON Go the investigation? ;)
oho lol
hope we hear something....soon..
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De ‘bust’ buss
By Raffique Shah (Sunday Express)
Within days of the announcement by US authorities that they had intercepted 700-odd pounds of cocaine shipped from Trinidad to Norfolk, Virginia, and the well-publicised arrival here of a number of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, I sensed that something had gone awfully wrong.
As the media frenzy rose to frenetic proportions—Messrs Big facing imminent arrest, extradition underway, DEA interrogates Customs, and so on—the missing links in a successful drug bust were too glaring. Based on my experience (as a journalist, I had investigated and written on several big narcotics interceptions in the 1990s), I concluded that little or nothing would come out of this seizure.
In other words, de bust buss!
A successful drug bust usually begins with the arrests of several lynchpins, sometimes kingpins, at the end-user side of the market. In the instant case, for example, the first we in Trinidad should have known about the Norfolk seizure was that a syndicate in New York had been busted, with the importer and several distributors arrested and facing charges.
Simultaneously, we’d learn of the quantity of drugs seized, and its origin. And if the DEA and local police were on the ball, we’d hear that persons in Trinidad and maybe Venezuela had already been picked up as investigations intensified. DEA agents would then arrive, armed with sufficient evidence to seek the extradition of those responsible for exporting the cocaine.
Closure would usually come within months, with every-man-jack sent to prison for lengthy terms, and possibly a bonus in the form of the confiscation of ill-gotten gains from their bank accounts or properties.
In other words, success is not about seizures, although that is useful. It must include arrests and successful prosecution of a syndicate (well, it’s hardly ever a cartel), and hopefully the dismantling of its operations.
These things did not happen in this case. Instead, the US authorities made a big song and dance about the discovery of the illicit drugs, end of story. Our officials, seizing the opportunity to appear to be doing something to stem the flow of drugs, hint at having collaborated with the DEA.
The unpalatable truth is this operation has been an unmitigated disaster. In fact, for many years our drug interdiction programme has yielded only a string of stupid ‘mules’ with cocaine in their stomachs or suitcases, the occasional discovery of a few kilos of drugs, but never the arrest of anyone that resembled a drug dealer.
It is not as if this country is not one of the major transhipment points for cocaine destined for the North American and European markets. The Norfolk seizure, one-third-tonne, is an indication that we ‘big in the dance’. How many similar shipments passed through that particular port before the US authorities made a breakthrough? What’s happening at other entry points to that lucrative market, and in Europe?
A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) research paper on the Trans-Atlantic cocaine trade, dated April 2011, concluded that the Andean countries (Colombia, Peru and Bolivia) produced 1,100 tonnes in 2009. Allowing for interceptions and seizures along the trade routes, the authors estimated that 123 tonnes eventually reached European consumers and 179 tonnes North Americans (mainly the USA).
The estimated street value of this combined 302 tonnes was put at US $70 billion! That works out to around $230 million a tonne. In the Norfolk seizure, US authorities valued one-third tonne at $100 million, or $300 million a tonne.
Bearing in mind this latter number is the street value, we can safely assume that the trans-shippers in Trinidad cream off at least 25 per cent of that, say US $75 million a tonne. Of the estimated 300 tonnes traded, if 5.0 per cent passes through Trinidad, it means US$1.1 billion, or TT$7.0 billion, is generated, and likely laundered, here.
If we are conservative in the extreme and assume only one per cent (three tonnes) passes this way, we are talking close to $2.0 billion a year of cocaine dollars circulating in the system.
That’s a lot of money in a country where government revenue for the current fiscal year is estimated at $55 billion and expenditure around $60 billion. Put in another perspective, think of what US$1.0 billion means to any small island Caribbean country whose budgetary expenditure and revenue may not exceed $3.0 billion.
Put bluntly, does it not make sense for any government in the Caribbean to turn a blind eye to the illicit operations of ‘Messrs Big’, given their contributions to the economy? In Trinidad’s case, cocaine dollars may fall behind only oil, gas, petrochemicals, services and manufacturing.
I am not suggesting that ‘somebody letting the cocaine pass’ as David Rudder sang many years ago. But if criminal enterprises can conduct canning businesses, mimicking legitimate manufacturers, and export cocaine via containerised cargo, something is rotten somewhere.
Worse, on several occasions the authorities have found large quantities of drugs in import containers, yet no one has been charged. The only ‘drug criminals’ jailed in this country are ‘coke-heads’ and two-bit pushers. That stinks.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/De-bust-buss-243118601.html
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The little bird say it taking long because of lack of cooperation from some of the main national security players.
Either this thing explode with bacchanal or it fizzle out like a wet squib.... no in betweens.
Fishs, check the article I posted above......
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Not familiar with the time frame associated with these investigations i am wondering whether the DEA is actually able to crack this one. More than 3 weeks have passed, are they still even here?
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http://i955fm.com/Mercer-Media-player-V1/player.html
check figueria at the station right now he has been speaking for a while.
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Criminology lecturer: Drug dealers using more sophisticated techniques
Published:
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Charles Kong Soo
Text Size:
University of the West Indies (UWI) criminology lecturer Daurius Figueira says drug dealers are using increasingly sophisticated techniques that can evade scanners and sniffer dogs. Figueira said the $644 million Norfolk, Virginia, USA drug bust where a 732 pounds shipment of cocaine was concealed in juice cans was an “old-school” smuggling method.
Odourless, easily disguised and virtually undetectable by even modern state-of-the-art scanners and highly-trained substance sniffing dogs, the new smuggling method is called “the darkness” because the cocaine could be hidden in plain sight and no one would know. Figueira said “the darkness” was the most effective form of drug smuggling devised to date by making the cocaine part of the legitimate product through the various manufacturing techniques that they used.
He revealed that one of the most favoured methods was to have the cocaine mixed with asphalt. The process required highly technical knowledge, he added. Figueira said after the shipment passed through Customs, the drug dealers removed the cocaine from the asphalt using a chemical process. As long as the drug dealers have the money they can “buy anybody” with the necessary skills, like chemists and other highly-trained people that have the necessary skill sets.
He said this form was practised by a very small elite as it was expensive, requiring resources, infrastructure, machinery and factories; however, it got a greater volume of product through than any other method. Figueira said the crème de la crème who practised “the darkness” were into hardcore trafficking, moving their product past Customs through the ports of Europe, the US and Canada.
He said the only way the cocaine hidden in asphalt was discovered by Colombian police was that someone who was part of the drug-smuggling organisation had informed on the shipment. Figueira said another method was to pack cocaine in the core of high-tension electrical cables while the cables were being manufactured in the factory. He said that this roll of cocaine-filled cable was mixed in with a volume and spread throughout a shipment of 40-foot containers, sometimes as many as 20 to 40 containers.
Figueira said the law of probability also worked in the drug dealers’ favour as a tired, overworked customs officer would be hard-pressed to do a random inspection of one container much less 20 or 40 containers.
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With all due respect for 'due process' but it seems like with so many cases in TnT, thins blow up and get all big up then is like it all boil down to a simmer and people fuh get all about it. Makes you wonder if everyone have a price. Things that make you wonder..........
1. Goes back to the former Police commissioner and his deputy fiasco- Were they released due to not meeting the conditions or were they getting in the way?
2. After the SOE- how could those who are entrusted with upholding the law, claim to have some of the biggest alleged gang leaders yet they were all released due to alleged insufficient evidence?
3. How could ministers in charge keep blaming the PNM and making statements of a 'mess' they inherited yet they have little evidence of concrete plans to deal with the present situation. You would think that all this time when one is in opposition and when they are planning to take over power that they would have some plans to put in place to deal with the situation.
4. When will the blaming game stop, and when will people see that what we are facing is more than politics? Unsolved and a lack of public disclosure to bring those at fault to justice creates more uncertainty and raises doubts about the competency, and the ethics of those who are in governance in my humble opinion. If we could print the names of those who owe money to corporations I think the public needs to hear of and know how some of these crimes are resolved.
P.S. when allegations are coming out stating that the criminals are more sophisticated and have more arsenal than our ' law officers, I wonder about the ability and capacity of those in governance to be ahead of the situation. Do the law enforcers not have access to the same resources as do the criminal elements in society? Ah wonder who feeding whom and who is gangster and who is law?
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/nyregion/major-mafia-round-up-in-new-york-and-italy.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0
The cocaine would come from Mexican drug cartels in Guyana, which would conceal narcotics in frozen fish aboard ships operated by a Guyanese company, the authorities said.
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Check this article. Daft would have loved this post RIP.
http://imgur.com/a/DYU2e
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Take note of the currencies.
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And they say crime doesnt pay :p
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At that level, what prison could do? At least he lost the money. ::)
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Prison can be a threat - when you run an organisation through fear, being removed from the position may see their empires crumble, or at least open the possibility for competitors internally and externally to challenge the status quo. Sadly death usually ensues.
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Cocaine in cans came from Europe
DEA man: Probe continuing (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Cocaine-in--cans-came--from-Europe-257259671.html)
By Camille Bethel camille.bethel@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Apr 29, 2014 at 9:32 PM ECT
The 332 kilogrammes of cocaine shipped to Norfolk, Virginia, USA, from this country in Trinidad Fruit Juice cans last December originated from Europe, Robert Kennedy, country attache for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for Port of Spain, said yesterday.
Speaking at the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police 29th annual general meeting and conference at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, Kennedy identified that drug bust as one of the DEA’s accomplishments.
“Another accomplishment here in Trinidad and Tobago, for the first time in a record long time, we have had a significant seizure of a direct shipment from Trinidad to the United States,” he said.
“Not getting too much into this, but it originated out of Europe, made it to Norfolk, Virginia, and is currently being investigated by the Trinidad authorities and the DEA.”
Kennedy added that Caribbean countries need to collaborate and solidify strategies in order to stem the trafficking problem in the region.
Questioned about the ongoing investigation by the DEA on the drug bust in Norfolk, acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams said: “I am not leading the investigation...what I can tell you, surely there is a level of partnering so the Organised Crime Unit, the Customs is giving the due support to the US agencies as they pursue this investigation.”
Stating that he did not want to comment on the progress of the investigation in isolation, Williams added: “What I can tell you is that there is a definite shape pattern between Customs and the Police Service towards ensuring that we do everything within our jurisdiction in support of that investigation. But, I will not box it into dates.”
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Although I am not Trini I feel bad for the fact the this shipment was intercepted .
Cocaine is the drug of choice for white people in the states and I am more upset that the cocaine shipment did not go through and my Triny brothers lost out on revenues.
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and like who really gives a flying f**k bout dem that uses cocaine
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Although I am not Trini I feel bad for the fact the this shipment was intercepted .
Cocaine is the drug of choice for white people in the states and I am more upset that the cocaine shipment did not go through and my Triny brothers lost out on revenues.
You not Trini...?
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...‘Expect drug problem to get worse’ (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Expect-drug-problem-to-get-worse-257259811.html)
By Camille Bethel
Story Created: Apr 29, 2014 at 9:34 PM ECT (T&T Express)
Expect the illicit drug problem to get worse before it gets better, said William Brownfield, United States Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
Speaking yesterday at the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police 29th annual general meeting at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, Brownfield said the current drug trafficking trend-line is up and the amount of drugs passing though the Caribbean has quadrupled in the last year.
“This is not something that we should take lightly. The drug crisis did not start yesterday. Homicide and violent crime is not an invention of the 20th century. It has taken generations to get to where we are and it is going to take generations to eventually solve the problem definitively. The problem is likely to get worse before it gets better.”
Brownfield, whose topic was “Enhancing security in the Caribbean”, said the problem has to be addressed strategically, looking at the past and present to change the future, which includes seeking out new partners and strengthening and adjusting the current partners.
“We have to address each element, each length of the chain. We must be creative...we all deal with budget realities. I project my budget is on a downward line path, at least for the next several years. I am not going to have the tremendous amount of resources made available to me so I want to see how we can use other opportunities that are out there.”
He admitted that the United States had dropped the ball with regard to giving information on deportees to the region, but explained why, adding that they need to find a way to give the countries in the region as much data on deportees as possible to assist in the crime-fighting efforts against transnational organised crime.
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any more updates on this juc story? oh is just another story that gone down the drain?
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any more updates on this juc story? oh is just another story that gone down the drain?
Latest news on this is what I posted in Reply #138 above.
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Cops probe $m party financier
Six individuals are being investigated in relation to the US$100 million cocaine bust in the United States in December where the drug was hidden in juice cans which carried local labels. One of the people being probed is said to be a financier of a poli
By DENYSE RENNE denyse.renne@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Aug 31, 2014 at 1:23 AM ECT
Story Updated: Aug 31, 2014 at 1:23 AM ECT
Port of Spain
Six individuals are being investigated in relation to the US$100 million cocaine bust in the United States in December where the drug was hidden in juice cans which carried local labels.
One of the people being probed is said to be a financier of a political party and may be the local mastermind behind the cocaine shipment, which was smuggled into Norfolk, Virginia, in tins labelled Trinidad Orange Juice, international law enforcement sources told the Sunday Express.
Sources said the man operates a multimillion-dollar business in Trinidad and also resides in the country.
So far, sources say, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the United States is still investigating the matter and officers are in the process of flying to other countries, seeking more information.
Earlier this year, two DEA agents arrived in the country, seeking the assistance of Trinidad and Tobago law enforcement.
Upon their arrival, they met with two of their colleagues who are based here.
Following a meeting with local law officers, the agents are said to have departed with shipping manifests and other documents.
Speaking with the Sunday Express on Thursday afternoon, Assistant Commissioner
of Police Glenn Hack-
ett said: “Local law enforcement are work-
ing alongside their foreign counterparts.”
Probed further as to who are the suspects, Hackett only said the matter is still the subject of an investigation.
Also contacted was National Security Minister Gary Griffith, who said regardless of who “the person is, there
will be a price to pay. I know the matter
with the cocaine bust; they (police) are working hand in hand with the DEA.
“Many people think this is a cold case, but it isn’t. Just by the fact that the DEA are heavily involved in this case means it will not be closed overnight,” Griffith said.
He said he has done research, and cases like this take about a year or more to be thoroughly investigated.
“What they (DEA) do is not what we see here, where you grab one person and the rest get away. No... from the driver, to the shipper to the receiver are caught. From captain to cook will be taken down. They (DEA) look at the paper trail of all their financiers and proceed from there,” he said.
On January 26, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told the media:
“The matter is under investigation and very sensitive and it would be inappropriate to comment.”
The Prime Minister noted two port scanners, purchased through grant funding at a cost of $25 million each, were in the country. The scanners arrived in T&T on December 26, 2013, while two others arrived in June this year.
At a news briefing in December 2013, Virginia police officers said the drugs carried an estimated value of US$100 million.
The cocaine was found concealed in fruit juice cans originating in T&T by United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Virginia.
Based on information received, the shipment was smuggled in Trinidad Orange Juice cans, which are manufactured by Co-operative Citrus Growers Association.
The cans were discovered in a shipping container which was destined for New York, USA. The cocaine was hidden in over 700 cans which were among thousands of cans, many of which contained juice.
SM Jaleel: Labels fake
In a release earlier this year on its website, local soft-drink manufacturer SM Jaleel said the company, which produces the popular juice drink, undertook an internal examination and the results showed the labels used on the Trinidad Juices cans found at the Port of Norfolk are “not real. They are fake”.
The company explained: “The colour of the text disclosing the net fluid ounces (at the bottom front) on the original and authentic labels are light green whereas the colour of that text on the product which has been seized is dark green.”
“It has become common knowledge that the criminals involved in drug trafficking have been using mechanisms to transport cocaine, inclusive of items such as fruit, car parts, lumber, hardware and various others. It now appears that someone may be trying to utilise our company’s product in this regard,” the company said.
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Wake me up when somebody gets arrested and charged. In this election season you feel they want to lose an sponsor like that? Ha!
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Wake me up when somebody gets arrested and charged. In this election season you feel they want to lose an sponsor like that? Ha!
Ditto.
T&T has the best probers in the world. If yuh ever want to sweep something under a carpet or make it go away we have a prober for yuh. We have probers for every budget, a police man, ex-judge or even a whole commission of inquiry. No issue too large or small for TT's finest to diligently probe into inaction.
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One of the people being probed is said to be a financier of a political party and may be the local mastermind behind the cocaine shipment, which was smuggled into Norfolk, Virginia, in tins labelled Trinidad Orange Juice, international law enforcement sources told the Sunday Express.
Sources said the man operates a multimillion-dollar business in Trinidad and also resides in the country.
Sometimes yuh does have to laugh and really wonder if those on charge does see the general population as idiots. The report above claims to have individuals and a person of interest yet they cyar name names and eh buss the mark by bringing him in or placing heat on the individual- so is either he is untouchable or well connected or...........You speculate?
In true Trini fashion given the possibilities who do you think this person is? Submit your choice
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Is dem Lavantee boys who responsible for all the cocaine and guns in de country.
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One of the people being probed is said to be a financier of a political party and may be the local mastermind behind the cocaine shipment, which was smuggled into Norfolk, Virginia, in tins labelled Trinidad Orange Juice, international law enforcement sources told the Sunday Express.
Sources said the man operates a multimillion-dollar business in Trinidad and also resides in the country.
Sometimes yuh does have to laugh and really wonder if those on charge does see the general population as idiots. The report above claims to have individuals and a person of interest yet they cyar name names and eh buss the mark by bringing him in or placing heat on the individual- so is either he is untouchable or well connected or...........You speculate?
In true Trini fashion given the possibilities who do you think this person is? Submit your choice
It is against the law in Trinidad.
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/NO-CHARGE--FOR-DOC-280876542.html
Acting CoP: No evidence in cocaine surgery case
By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Oct 29, 2014 at 11:16 PM ECT
Story Updated: Oct 30, 2014 at 8:55 AM ECT
There is no evidence to charge the doctor or the patient in the case where the doctor removed cocaine pellets from the patient’s stomach and handed them back to him.
Speaking at the weekly police news conference yesterday, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams said following the exclusive report in the Express in January this year about the secret surgery, the matter was “thoroughly investigated” over several months.
He said the investigation involved the interview of a patient, interviews of doctors, nurses and hospital personnel, and collection of records from the private hospital.
Williams said at the end of the investigation the advice of the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Kathy Ann Waterman-Latchoo, was obtained by the investigators and, based on this advice, there is no evidence at this point in time which can be used to pursue prosecution against the surgeon or the patient.
But “the Police Service is continuing to explore investigations into that matter and other matters coming out of the investigation”, Williams said.
However, FIXIN’ T&T is calling on the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) to review the case where cocaine pellets were removed from a patient’s stomach and handed back to him during surgery at the St Augustine Private Hospital in December 2013.
The call was made yesterday by the group said it was incomprehensible that after investigations, no one would be charged or held accountable in the matter.
Sources told the Express the doctor denied cocaine pellets were removed from the patient, and since the “pellets” were given back to the patient there was no evidence of it.
The Express had obtained actual photographs of the pellets, which sources at the hospital confirmed were filled with cocaine.
On the heels of Williams’s comments, FIXIN’ T&T issued a release calling for the case to be re-examined.
“FIXIN’ T&T calls for a review of the advice provided to the police by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Kathy Ann Waterman-Latchoo regarding the matter of pellets removed from the stomach of a patient at a private hospital. It is at odds with opinions in law of both the late Dana Seetahal, SC, and the United Kingdom-based Medical Protection Society (MPS). Further we seek to ascertain if said advice was verbal or written,” it stated.
The activist group also called for the PCA to review the investigation conducted by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.
It noted the allegations the pellets were removed from the stomach of a patient at the St Augustine Private Hospital by a doctor and then handed back to the patient have never been denied.
“It is beyond our comprehension therefore, that after a prolonged and efficient police investigation no charges will be laid and no one held accountable,” stated FIXIN’ T&T.
Browne: One law for the rich, one for the poor
Opposition MP Amery Browne, who had raised the matter in Parliament, told the Express yesterday Williams’s comments that no one will be prosecuted in the cocaine case proves there is one law for the rich and another for the poor in this country.
“The silence on this matter by the Minister of Health and the so-called police investigation that ended in a report of ‘case closed’ are further indications that in this land there is one law for the rich and powerful and one law for the ordinary citizen,” he said.
Browne noted that months ago when he raised the matter in the Parliament, he indicated that in such cases, it is critical to follow the money. “In addition, there should have been a thorough grilling of all witnesses and participants, as well as a review of camera systems within and in close proximity to the clinic,” he said.
Browne said it has been many years since this country has had any major arrests of any big players in the cocaine industry because they have been able to purchase safety and protection at all levels of society.
“In this episode our law enforcement had a rare opportunity to capitalise on a slip in a cocaine export operation... and they have failed yet again,” he said.
“So it is business as usual up at that clinic, and the sad message being sent to other health care providers and to the nation’s children is that the existing loopholes are large enough that you can facilitate the cocaine industry and get away with it,” he added.
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U sound surprise?
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On what evidence are they supposed to charge them... pictures? Showing what? When? Or should they listen to people who allegedly were at the hospital and claimed to see cocaine? Without the actual cocain, and something tying it to either doctor or patient, there simply isn't enough to charge them with anything.
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No witnesses available? I guess it easy to shut them up. :frustrated:
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Iheard the doctor was told that they know where he lives and the schools his children attend
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No witnesses available? I guess it easy to shut them up. :frustrated:
I am the doctor... I saw cocaine.
Now how do we know it was cocaine that I saw... Can't even test the substance because it is not available. You can't bring a case like that.
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Iheard the doctor was told that they know where he lives and the schools his children attend
No witnesses available? I guess it easy to shut them up. :frustrated:
No witnesses available? I guess it easy to shut them up. :frustrated:
I wonder how he was selected to do this job? I know people who get put into witness protection for less. So I would say he was paid well for his services.
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Just heard the AG say continue investigating. How we will be laughing stock in the world. He very late we are already 1.
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Iheard the doctor was told that they know where he lives and the schools his children attend
No witnesses available? I guess it easy to shut them up. :frustrated:
No witnesses available? I guess it easy to shut them up. :frustrated:
I wonder how he was selected to do this job? I know people who get put into witness protection for less. So I would say he was paid well for his services.
He did not have to be paid one cent just the threat alone would be enough. So many people in this country small and big got killed with impunity.
Why should a doctor or for that matter anybody submit themselves to witness protection in Trinidad? More than likely it will mean the end of your life or life as you know it
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If Levi Morris who turn state witness in the Baboolal murder could get relocated to the US I suspect the good Dr would be relocated to outside of TnT.
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If Levi Morris who turn state witness in the Baboolal murder could get relocated to the US I suspect the good Dr would be relocated to outside of TnT.
He is a bandit. You just full of nonsense. You think an established surgeon want to go through that.
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If Levi Morris who turn state witness in the Baboolal murder could get relocated to the US I suspect the good Dr would be relocated to outside of TnT.
He is a bandit. You just full of nonsense. You think an established surgeon want to go through that.
FYI the DR is a bandit dressed in white with an MBBS behind his name. That is why we in this mess as a country. I on nonsense but u condone all sort of rubbish. Of all d Drs in town they select him. Now he fear for his life. So it ok 4 a bandit to turn witness but not a Dr. After all he has much more 2 offer the society than a man who turn state witness and resulted in 1 of the most gruesome gangs meeting the same fate that the Baboolal family met. He has a new skill 2 add to his CV. Successfully removed pellets from patient.
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Plenty articles to post so I giving allyuh some cliff notes:
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-11-02/%E2%80%98private-hospital-launched-witch-hunt-whistle-blower-cocaine-case%E2%80%99
A lawyer was hired to carry out a witch-hunt for the whistle-blower who leaked a photo of 17 cocaine pellets that were surgically removed by a doctor from a suspected drug mule’s stomach at the institution last December. This was revealed yesterday by a spokesman in the medical profession.
“Money was spent, and this $1,500-plus an hour lawyer was hired to find out who was the alleged whistle-blower. “There is a lot of spin going around about this story. “If he doesn’t want to take blame, the idea is to say that he was threatened and there was no evidence of that.”
The medical professional pointed out several details, one is that the Medical Board received no video of the alleged incident and questioned if it was a fabrication to cover it up. He said the doctor had no sort of increase in visible security after the alleged threat. He said the doctor had enough means to hire personal security guards, yet he was seen at several high profile functions and Carnival fetes after the incident with a family member, and without any security guards.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/COCAINE-RUNNER-281205491.html
The patient who ingested 20 cocaine pellets, of which 17 were surgically removed at St Augustine Private Hospital, is alive and participated in the UWI SPEC International Half Marathon last week.
Following the erroneous Guardian article, relatives of the man indicated to law enforcement officials when contacted yesterday the man, who turned 35 this year, was not dead.
However, the Sunday Express learned medical files at both institutions have been locked away because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The surgery was conducted by general and vascular surgeon Dr Denaesh Ariyanayagam and a team of medical staff.
Ariyanayagam is listed as one of the 25 shareholders of the hospital. Five of the hospital’s medical practitioners also sit on the board.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Nurse-asked-friend-to-help-her-son-281205351.html
A senior nurse attached to the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital facilitated the recovery of her son at Mt Hope following surgery where 17 pellets of cocaine were removed from his stomach at the St Augustine Private Hospital.
The man had ingested 20 pellets but excreted three. No testing of the retrieved substance was conducted since, following the emergency surgery, the 17 pellets were handed back to the man and he was allowed to leave the private facility.
An investigation by the Sunday Express has unearthed the nurse asked her friend—a doctor attached to St Augustine Private Hospital—to operate on her son, whom she said was suffering from a stomach blockage, “abdominal pain, loss of appetite and weight”.
Sources say sometime on December 18, 2013, the 35-year-old son of the registered nurse (RN) boarded a flight to London, England, saying he was going to visit relatives and friends.
While in England, the man, who is a former student of The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, claimed he visited a medical institution and hurriedly returned to Trinidad two days later.
Upon his return, he started experiencing stomach pains and complained to his mother.
His mother, Sunday Express investigations revealed, called her friend at the private medical institution on December 20 and made arrangements for the surgery to take place the next day.
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Well eh eh For the record, for once I agree with the AG action but it is like the 'pot calling the kettle black' if he calling for an investigation and claim of alleged wrong doings by the medical practitioners in this case ah wonder if the investigation into the legal practice involving the 'prisongate' issue was ever resolved? Soon all ministers will be calling for investigation into each other's ministry lol.
Al this story of surgery under duress and failure to report to the authorities is further evidence of the breakdown in a corrupt system not unlike the Life Support scandal. Who sanctioned the surgery? In matters resulting in a death what is the process of investigation by the chief medical executive of the said hospital facility?
How is it that daily there are people waiting for surgery for up to two years and yet this nurse could have this done overnight by calling on a friend? Yeah know people who are lying in a hospital bed and can't even get a cat scan!!! Oh yeah them same doctors at the public hospitals would offer patients the opportunity to get it done but you have to pay or attend their private clinics where the equipment is stored.
This brings to mind in as all country like ours we cyar resolve some of these issues? Speaking of doctors and medical equipment- what ever happened to the investigation regarding medical equipment that went missing from the Sando hospital last year?
It eh go surprise me if it eh end up on the black market and in a private medical facility!
It eh go surprise me if some ah them same doctors eh pay money to have them things stolen. You eh see how fish does rot from the head. So yes all for more investigation in each ministry and yuh go see all that is wrong when Phoney Politicians are ruling.
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The "AG" on shit. There's nothing to investigate... without the actual evidence, the drugs, there is nothing to investigate. Ramlogan needs to shut his ass and stay in his lane, he's in no legal or moral position to dictate or even suggest to Roger Gaspard how he should be doing his job. The Attorney General is the government's legal advisor, he's not involved in law enforcement, contrary to popular belief. Let him focus on giving Kamla and them bad advice and let the DPP do his job... he's more than ably qualified.
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The "AG" on shit. There's nothing to investigate... without the actual evidence, the drugs, there is nothing to investigate. Ramlogan needs to shut his ass and stay in his lane, he's in no legal or moral position to dictate or even suggest to Roger Gaspard how he should be doing his job. The Attorney General is the government's legal advisor, he's not involved in law enforcement, contrary to popular belief. Let him focus on giving Kamla and them bad advice and let the DPP do his job... he's more than ably qualified.
Well said.
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If Levi Morris who turn state witness in the Baboolal murder could get relocated to the US I suspect the good Dr would be relocated to outside of TnT.
He is a bandit. You just full of nonsense. You think an established surgeon want to go through that.
FYI the DR is a bandit dressed in white with an MBBS behind his name. That is why we in this mess as a country. I on nonsense but u condone all sort of rubbish. Of all d Drs in town they select him. Now he fear for his life. So it ok 4 a bandit to turn witness but not a Dr. After all he has much more 2 offer the society than a man who turn state witness and resulted in 1 of the most gruesome gangs meeting the same fate that the Baboolal family met. He has a new skill 2 add to his CV. Successfully removed pellets from patient.
How is he a bandit?
He rob anybody ? He kill anybody? You have any proof to call the man a bandit. You just full of mauvais lang and like a village gossip
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If Levi Morris who turn state witness in the Baboolal murder could get relocated to the US I suspect the good Dr would be relocated to outside of TnT.
He is a bandit. You just full of nonsense. You think an established surgeon want to go through that.
FYI the DR is a bandit dressed in white with an MBBS behind his name. That is why we in this mess as a country. I on nonsense but u condone all sort of rubbish. Of all d Drs in town they select him. Now he fear for his life. So it ok 4 a bandit to turn witness but not a Dr. After all he has much more 2 offer the society than a man who turn state witness and resulted in 1 of the most gruesome gangs meeting the same fate that the Baboolal family met. He has a new skill 2 add to his CV. Successfully removed pellets from patient.
How is he a bandit?
He rob anybody ? He kill anybody? You have any proof to call the man a bandit. You just full of mauvais lang and like a village gossip
Or a bandit is only soneone who robs someone. Ok thanks for the heads up.
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Doctors should do the right thing
Medical Association PRO on cocaine surgery:
By Joel Julien joel.julien@trinidadexpress.com
FEELING threatened should not stop one from doing the right thing, public relations officer (PRO) of the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association (TTMA) Dr Austin Trinidade has warned doctors.
Trinidade made the statement yesterday in a telephone interview with the Express about the controversial surgery where 17 cocaine pellets were surgically removed from a patient at the St Augustine Private Hospital last December and handed back to him.
“As doctors we go into a profession knowing that there are risks and that should not stop us from doing the right thing,” Trinidade said yesterday.
“We (TTMA) have always advised doctors that they should do the correct thing, it is expected that we report something suspicious. If we think it may be something is criminal in nature then we should report it and we cannot hide under the umbrella of feeling threatened or you know you might be putting yourself at risk,” he said.
“It is like reporting any crime, you are supposed to report criminal activity whether you are a doctor or not,” he added.
Trinidade said according to information he has, the Medical Board still has not received any complaint and is therefore unable to initiate an investigation.
“The Medical Board can only conduct an investigation if they get a complaint. So far as I am told, and I spoke to two members of the council of the Medical Board, they have not received any complaints from anyone,” Trinidade said.
“They cannot just initiate an investigation on their own, they have to respond to a complaint from somebody, the police, the Attorney General or the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) or whoever it is,” he said.
Trinidade said the Medical Board can only investigate issues of “medical negligence or something infamous” done by doctors and not matters of a criminal nature.
Dr Denaesh Ariyanayagam, who conducted the surgery, has told the Express that his attorney has advised him not to say anything because of the sensitivity of the matter.
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/rcmp-arrest-2-men-import-liquid-cocaine-orange-juice-1.3365558
Liquid cocaine in orange juice cartons
RCMP have arrested two Toronto-area men for allegedly importing approximately 44 litres of liquid cocaine concealed in more than 40 cartons of orange juice.
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers working at the Port of Halifax discovered the approximately 44 litres of liquid cocaine inside a sea container they were inspecting.
The container was thought to contain different food products originating from Trinidad and Tobago.
Border agents seized the cocaine disguised as orange juice containers and contacted the RCMP in Halifax who informed the RCMP Toronto Airport Detachment about the drugs.
According to the RCMP, 44 litres of liquid cocaine can be converted to 24 kg of powdered cocaine.
On Nov. 26, 2015, RCMP arrested and charged two GTA men, one from Mississauga and one from Whitby, in connecting with the investigation.
They have been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and importing drugs into Canada under Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substance Act. They have also been charged with conspiracy under the Criminal Code.
"The RCMP is determined to combat organized crime by arresting criminals who are involved in smuggling illegal drugs into Canada," Supt. Keith Finn, the officer in charge of GTA RCMP Serious and Organized Crime team, said in a news release. "The result of this investigation demonstrates how the RCMP and its partners work effectively together to ensure the safety and security of Canadians."
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Ah hear this on the news earlier. Piarco Airport authorities FAILED in having this get pass T&T security and out the country.
Edit: I learned it came through the sea port and not the airport. Still a failure.
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"44 Litres of liquid cocaine hidden in orange juice cartons, which originated in Trinidad & Tobago have been seized by Canadian authorities." - C News
https://www.facebook.com/cnewslive/posts/10153746041935610
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Well they did not get charge the 1st time so why not continue.
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Well they did not get charge the 1st time so why not continue.
darn Yanks! notice the cannucks handle dey business!
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Well...when the last incident happened it was admitted that they dont scan outgoing containers. :frustrated:
In this instance people get charge within a week. We more than a year on and nothing here locally.
And....imagine how many already got through...? I doubt these two were the only two times drugs were shipped like that.
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Well...when the last incident happened it was admitted that they dont scan outgoing containers. :frustrated:
In this instance people get charge within a week. We more than a year on and nothing here locally.
And....imagine how many already got through...? I doubt these two were the only two times drugs were shipped like that.
ENT
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Well...when the last incident happened it was admitted that they dont scan outgoing containers. :frustrated:
In this instance people get charge within a week. We more than a year on and nothing here locally.
And....imagine how many already got through...? I doubt these two were the only two times drugs were shipped like that.
Not sure if I'm missing something, but...
"Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers working at the Port of Halifax discovered the approximately 44 litres of liquid cocaine inside a sea container they were inspecting." so I assume said scanning in Trinidad and Tobago NOT happening?
and
Was anyone locally charge for this instance?
Maybe there's more news locally that's not posted in this thread.
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Well...when the last incident happened it was admitted that they dont scan outgoing containers. :frustrated:
In this instance people get charge within a week. We more than a year on and nothing here locally.
And....imagine how many already got through...? I doubt these two were the only two times drugs were shipped like that.
Not sure if I'm missing something, but...
"Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers working at the Port of Halifax discovered the approximately 44 litres of liquid cocaine inside a sea container they were inspecting." so I assume said scanning in Trinidad and Tobago NOT happening?
and
Was anyone locally charge for this instance?
Maybe there's more news locally that's not posted in this thread.
Thats what I said. After the last one I think Gary Griffith said that they dont scan outgoing containers. And no...no charges laid locally.
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Why do I have this feeling that an investigation will be a futile endeavor.
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tt
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8 nabbed in $94m Charlieville drug bust
KEN CHEE HING (NEWSDAY).
EIGHT people were arrested on Wednesday after more than $94 million in marijuana was seized in Central Trinidad.
The police said this bust is a major disruption of a transnational organised drug syndicate with connections in the US, UK, Canada, and Jamaica.
Around 10.30 am on Wednesday, members of the Central Intelligence Bureau, the Northern Division Gang Unit and the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF), with support from officers of the Customs and Excise Department and Port Security, intercepted a container at Kolahal Road, Charlieville in Chaguanas.
The container reportedly left the Port of Port of Spain on the same day.
On searching the container, officers found 958 boxes containing compressed marijuana, which weighed 947.64 kilogrammes, with a street value of $94,764,000.
Eight people were arrested and $60,000 seized.
Acting DCP, Investigations and Intelligence, Mc Donald Jacob said the operation was the result of co-operation with other internal and external law enforcement agencies. He also credited the efforts being made by Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith to engender co-operation among various regional law enforcement agencies.
Jacob, in a police press release, added that Griffith recently established the Central Intelligence Bureau to achieve such positive outcomes.
CPL Stephenson of the Northern Division is continuing investigations. Charges are expected to be laid against the suspects soon, both by the police and the Customs and Excise Division.
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2 charged with $95m drugs in shipping container
T&T Express Reports.
Two men appeared before a Chaguanas Magistrate today, charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, after being arrested in the Charlieville district on August 12.
Selwyn Matthews, 56, of Chin Chin Road, Cunupia, and Odane Anderson, of Vistabella, San Fernando, were charged by Cpl Stevenson, of the Northern Division’s Gang Investigations Unit.
The men were remanded into the custody and the matter adjourned to September 4.
Around 10:30 am on August 12, officers of the Central Intelligence Bureau, the Northern Division Gang Unit, the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF), with support from officers of the Customs and Excise Department and Port Security, intercepted a container at Kolahal Road, Charlieville, Chaguanas.
The container reportedly left the Port of Port of Spain on the same day. On searching the container, officers found 958 boxes containing a compressed plant like material resembling marijuana, which weighed 947.64 kilogrammes, with a street value of $94,764,000.
Eight persons were arrested and $60,000 seized. Some of those arrested were subsequently released.
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