March 28, 2024, 06:11:27 PM

Author Topic: Drug News Thread  (Read 87677 times)

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truetrini

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #60 on: August 27, 2011, 06:13:40 AM »
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...

Offline frico

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #61 on: August 27, 2011, 08:55:49 AM »
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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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #62 on: August 27, 2011, 09:04:04 AM »
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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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #63 on: August 27, 2011, 09:25:52 AM »
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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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #64 on: August 27, 2011, 09:36:34 AM »
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.

Offline frico

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #65 on: August 27, 2011, 09:59:43 AM »
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.

truetrini

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #66 on: August 27, 2011, 11:18:34 AM »
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.

Offline frico

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #67 on: August 27, 2011, 11:40:19 AM »
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

Offline elan

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #68 on: August 27, 2011, 06:56:40 PM »
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.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/blUSVALW_Z4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/blUSVALW_Z4</a>

truetrini

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #69 on: August 27, 2011, 07:06:10 PM »
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?

Offline frico

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #70 on: August 29, 2011, 02:21:26 AM »
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

truetrini

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #71 on: August 29, 2011, 05:49:20 AM »
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?
« Last Edit: August 29, 2011, 06:57:31 AM by Trinity Cross »

Offline frico

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Re: US Government Raises Alarm against T&T Cocaine Problem
« Reply #72 on: August 29, 2011, 12:52:52 PM »
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.

truetrini

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Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #73 on: August 30, 2011, 09:57:30 PM »
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."

Offline Preacher

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #74 on: August 30, 2011, 10:07:39 PM »
Great read.  Thanks for posting.  Back when the world was young you never know all that stuff was going on. 
In Everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you.

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #75 on: August 30, 2011, 10:39:52 PM »
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!
« Last Edit: August 30, 2011, 10:43:17 PM by Socapro »
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #76 on: August 30, 2011, 11:21:10 PM »
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.

Offline Socapro

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #77 on: August 30, 2011, 11:54:50 PM »
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!
« Last Edit: August 30, 2011, 11:57:57 PM by Socapro »
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #78 on: August 31, 2011, 01:57:45 AM »


 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?
Ah want de woman on de bass

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #79 on: August 31, 2011, 06:03:14 AM »


 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.

Offline Trini _2026

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #80 on: August 31, 2011, 06:26:37 AM »
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.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/sh8SeGmzai4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/sh8SeGmzai4</a>

Offline fishs

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #81 on: August 31, 2011, 07:27:01 AM »
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
Ah want de woman on de bass

truetrini

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #82 on: August 31, 2011, 07:44:30 AM »
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...

truetrini

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #83 on: August 31, 2011, 07:46:09 AM »
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

truetrini

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #84 on: August 31, 2011, 07:47:19 AM »

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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


truetrini

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #85 on: August 31, 2011, 07:54:37 AM »
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.

« Last Edit: August 31, 2011, 08:00:12 AM by Trinity Cross »

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #86 on: August 31, 2011, 08:11:01 AM »
I wonder what inspired this thread  :devil:.

Curiously, this linkage seemingly exists elsewhere. 

Offline Dutty

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #87 on: August 31, 2011, 11:25:03 AM »
Russian mafia in T&T too?!!! that martinez woman look like she do serious research but ah hope she wrong on da one
Little known fact: The online transportation medium called Uber was pioneered in Trinidad & Tobago in the 1960's. It was originally called pullin bull.

truetrini

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #88 on: August 31, 2011, 11:30:55 AM »
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.

truetrini

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Re: Taken from the book "Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking in The Caribbean
« Reply #89 on: August 31, 2011, 11:42:04 AM »
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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