PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government Friday urged relatives of two men allegedly killed when the United States bombed a small vessel in international waters near the coast of Venezuela earlier this week, to come forward and assist in the investigations.
But at the same time, Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander, a former senior police officer, is casting doubt on the “innocence” of the two men, Richie Samaroo and Chad “Charpo” Joseph, regarding their involvement in criminal activities.
“All I can say is that what the Homeland Ministry is dealing with is really newspaper reports, because we would want to get as much information as we can to assist in any way that we can in terms of identifying persons and all of that,” Alexander told I.955FM radio on Friday.
“But there are some strange activities that seem to be taking place, because you know, normally when persons travel, the amount of souls on a plane, rhey can be identified, if something is to happen and in terms of a ship, the manifest and all of that and the boats registered to leave from one port to another,” he said, noting that has not been the case in this particular situation.
“So all we have is family making statements, strange and unusual statements, I must say, because I heard the media interviewing the grandmother and she said that the men are all good…
“Normal thing, we understand that. That is the role and function of a mother. Her son ought to be the best, and he was making runs (between Venezuela and Trinidad), but the media never asked what type of runs he was making. Was it on the cricket field? I was confused myself, but as I said before, nothing has come to the Ministry of Homeland Security in terms of something happening,” Alexander said.
He told his hosts that several years ago, an individual was reported to be involved “in a situation” here, only for investigations to prove later he was in Brazil.
“So what I am suggesting is that the family make a missing persons report. The first thing they should have done is contact them, which is a good starting point. But as it is right now, we have nothing to work with, absolutely nothing,” Alexander said.
On Thursday, the secretary of the non-governmental organization, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea, Gary Aboud, confirmed that two Trinidad and Tobago nationals were among the six people killed following the latest United States military airstrike.
“We would like to offer our condolences to the families, friends, children, and wives of the deceased. Very, very sorry that they were murdered like this. I am very, very sorry,” Aboud said on a radio broadcast about the killings of Samaroo and Joseph.
Aboud said as a result of the killings, local fisherfolk are now afraid of going out to sea.
“People are terrified of the risk of being killed at sea. Personally, I am distraught with our national position of bringing American warships and allowing them to bypass the judicial process.
“We have law and order. We are a civilized nation. Yet we have adopted and given blessing to warmongering murderers to come into our territory and kill people outside of the judicial process.
“I strongly advise fishermen not to go further than a quarter of a mile, half a mile from the shoreline,” Aboud said, adding that the fish being sought can be caught near the shore.
“It is very dangerous to be offshore as you can be killed at any time,” he said.
Alexander told radio listeners with respect to the individuals who are alleged to have been killed by the US strike in 2018, “persons were detained with narcotics”.
He said that there is an investigation taking place in East Trinidad involving one of the individuals, “where persons were shot and killed.
“So to be looking at it from every angle and to be fair, we were hoping to get something that we could work with and to date, all we are seeing are social media reports and interviews from the media with the relatives…”
“The gentleman is well known to me from my past life…and we are quite aware of his behavior, his actions, and what he is accustomed to doing. So when we heard people saying the individual is such a good boy,” Alexander said, recalling a statement told to him by a lady whose two children died as a result of the illegal drug trade.
Alexander reiterated that there are procedures whereby “this whole thing could be easily done and very quickly.
“So whilst we’re waiting and asking questions about the family members, there are several things that’re being unearthed. But we would love for the family to come, bring documents, and sit with the police and give them a comprehensive report so the police know exactly what to work with.
“We need something to work with other than what we are hearing in the public domain, because if I mention what we are hearing in the public domain, you will tell me to put down this phone and you will move on to your next topic,” Alexander said,’ adding “we need information from family members if this in fact did happen.
‘Not because someone say you were in a particular location and now you are no longer there, we have to take that and believe it,” Alexander said, insisting the situation “has the attention of the government (and) we need persons who have first hand knowledge that we can work with because we cannot work with some of the things we are hearing…”
“If you are out in the waters on a boat and who knows what you are doing there, then those who know you were there need to come forward and help us with this investigation,” Alexander said, adding, “It is discerning to us that people go out there (at sea) and things happen.
“We as a government must show that we care, and this is what we are trying to do…the authorities have gotten little or no information that they can really work with, per se.”
Last month, President Donald Trump ramped up US military presence in the Caribbean Sea, ordering an amphibious squadron to the southern Caribbean as part of his effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.
A nuclear-powered attack submarine, additional P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, several destroyers, and a guided-missile cruiser have also been allocated to US Southern Command as part of the mission.
The United States military has carried out four deadly air strikes in Caribbean waters over the past few weeks against what Washington alleges are Caracas-backed drug traffickers. The Venezuelan government denies the charge, accusing the administration of being a threat to the peace and security of the whole region.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar has said that she is “happy that the US naval deployment is having success in their mission,” and that “the pain and suffering the cartels have inflicted on our nation is immense. I have no sympathy for traffickers; the US military should kill them all violently”.
In the latest US strike, President Trump said it targeted a vessel allegedly linked to narcotics trafficking and terrorist networks transiting through the Caribbean. It was the fifth US “kinetic strike” in the region since the deployment of military assets under the administration’s anti-narcotics campaign.
In total, 27 people have been killed in five similar operations, which Washington claims are aimed at dismantling drug routes linked to Venezuela.
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