PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) successfully “dealt” with two drones that had entered into the space over the Teteron Barracks, where “the problematic prison inmates” from the Maximum Security Prison were removed to at the start of the State of Emergency (SoE), according to Attorney General, John Jeremie.
“I’ve been cleared to say that the locations that the problematic inmates were removed to very recently were also infiltrated by two drones. That’s what I’ve been permitted to say. The Defence Force, which has custody of those areas, dealt with that situation,” Jeremie told Parliament as legislators debated and passed a motion to extend the SoE by three months on Monday night.
The SoE came into force on July 18 after the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) said it had received intelligence reports “whereby organised criminal gangs with persons inside of the prisons and persons operating on the outside of the prisons have formed themselves into what I would want to term an organised crime syndicate”.
Police Commissioner, Allister Guevarro, said that the members of that syndicate were actively planning “to carry out assassinations, robberies and kidnappings.
Jeremie told Parliament that the persons who were targeted for assassination had been given information by the law enforcement agencies and that the SoE was an urgent, necessary measure to provide law enforcement with the essential power to dismantle the criminal enterprise.
“That enterprise was determined to assassinate persons in critical positions. We’ve shared some of that information with those individuals. The plan was to attack buildings, generally hobble the justice systems,” he said, noting that a state prosecutor had been shot and killed last December when a SoE was in effect then.
“I’ve been asked to authorise grief counselling and all manner of things for them,” he said, adding that others were targeted and other assassinations planned, and it was all “sparked by” orders issued by “commanders in jail.”
Jeremie recalled that 35 years ago, members of the radical Jamaat Al Muslimeen group made an attempt to overthrow the then ANR Robinson government, and he was now addressing the country “in circumstances not dissimilar from those at that time.
“One difference, and a terrifying one at that, is that today there is not a singular violent threat but I want to be abundantly clear: if we didn’t take the decisive action of declaring an SoE and immediately removing individuals from the Maximum Security Prison 10 days ago, along with the many subsequent operations by the TTPS and armed forces – some of which have been publicised and some not – many of us may not have been here today.”
Jeremie raised the security forces for securing “all of us in this Chamber and the people,” telling legislators that it was clear the prison system is compromised, even as he insisted that not every prison officer is compromised.
Jeremie said that in some instances, prison officers were known to tip off prisoners who maintain sophisticated communication with external affiliates, manage logistics, direct acts of violence through the use of smuggled phones, compromise officials, and exploit visitations.
The Attorney General also said that some attorneys are involved in undermining the system.
“All of these things are enabled by corrupt officer/inmate collusion networks and growing black market economies operating in prisons. High-risk inmates in particular exploit the system through bribery – there’s a lot of money passing hands in prison – collusion, fearmongering against officers who resist involvement in illegal activities.
“The insidious influence erodes the professionalism of corrections staff, undermining our national ability to contain violent actors. Officers, visitors, and drones are used for smuggling and strategic coordination of contraband drops, reinforcing the sustainability of these criminal networks.”
Jeremie said while the authorities had isolated certain persons at a specific location, “that’s not to say the problem is solved. We understand there are persons outside with whom those persons inside were communicating…”
He told legislators that, despite historical rivalries, gang members are now, in some cases, “united, in other instances uniting to form a singular coordinated method of attacking state institutions.
“The pattern we now face bears in that respect, a haunting resemblance to the conditions that preceded the 1990 coup attempt. As observed then and reaffirmed now, these events are preceded by grave frustrations, ideological solidarity among violent actors, and decades-long critical lapses in responsiveness by state agencies – decades-long inaction by the leadership of those on the other side,” Jeremie said, adding that things are very different now than in 1990.
“Groups outside of the prisons who now take instructions from their leaders inside prison are armed to the teeth. They possess explosives. There have been press reports on C4 explosives being found outside the prison, in the garden.
“We’re witnessing a coordinated surge in violent crimes across Trinidad and Tobago. Things aren’t occurring – when it comes to gang-related homicides – by accident, kidnappings are also coordinated.”
He noted that the key difference between today’s threat and that of 1990 is the gangs’ enhanced operational capacity to collaborate across previously impenetrable rivalries and prisons, facilitated by social media, sophisticated and encrypted communication platforms, and a complex flow of money, arms, and equipment from other international criminal organisations.
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