PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar says state resources will not be wasted searching the sea for bodies of members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang after the United States said it had bombed a vessel during a drug interdiction exercise last week..
“That was not a civilian vessel. The drugs on that boat bring death to persons here, destroy families and careers, and fracture our society. Those drugs bring more death and despair than conventional weapons.
“We are in a war against drugs and trafficking. There will be consequences, I much prefer seeing drug and gun traffickers blown to pieces than seeing hundreds of our citizens murdered each year because of drug-fuelled gang violence,” she told the Trinidad Express newspaper.
The Persad Bissessar administration has come out publicly in support of the United States sending naval and military troops to waters near Venezuela as part of Washington’s crackdown on nacro- trafficking.
Last week, Prime Minister Persad Bissessar praised the US military strike on an alleged drug-carrying vessel in the southern Caribbean, which the White House said had killed 11 “narco-terrorists” who were part of the Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang.
She said she had “no sympathy for traffickers” and that the US military should “kill them all violently.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called on the Trinidad and Tobago government to search for the remains of the 11 men, even as police here are yet to identify the two bodies that washed ashore over the weekend.
Petro has since taken to his X account, referencing reports of fishermen’s fears in Trinidad and that it was “essential” that the government here search for the remains of what he said were civilian dead..
“We have been capturing civilians transporting drugs for decades without killing them. Those who transport drugs are not the big drug traffickers, but the impoverished young people of the Caribbean and the Pacific,” wrote Petro.
“It is imperative that the Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago search for remains of the civilian dead from the US bombing of a civilian vessel, about which we do not know if it was carrying drugs, and if it was, it should not have been bombed.
“The bombing took place in the territorial waters of Trinidad and Tobago. Did the island’s government give permission? Life comes first always and everywhere,” he added.
But when asked by the Trinidad Express newspaper whether her coalition administration would heed the call and search for the bodies at sea, she replied, “No, we will not waste resources to look for those bodies.
“Our Coast Guard resources will be utilised for the protection of our borders, not to look for dead drug traffickers. However, if any carcass washes up on our shores, we will recover it,” she said, adding that this vessel was transporting drugs by members of the notorious Tren de Aragua.
Police Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro said the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is urging anyone with information regarding the bodies at sea to come forward, advising against people speculating on whether they may be any of the 11 Venezuelan nationals killed in the Caribbean Sea on September 2.
“Thus far, the TTPS continues to investigate both reports of bodies washed up in the Eastern Division. At this time, we do not want to speculate as to the origin of the bodies or the manner in which they met their demise.
“But we are asking anyone with information to come forward and share that info with us so we can progress our investigation,” Guevarro said.
Media reports said that on September 5, an unidentified body washed ashore near O’Halloran Trace, Cumana, Toco, the most northeasterly village on the island of Trinidad, and two days later, the body of a man washed ashore along Trinidad’s north-eastern coast at Balandra Beach.
In the meantime, the government has said that it is moving to deport more than 200 migrants who are here illegally.
“We are working to upgrade the Cedros Coast Guard facility and have dispatched more vessels to the area. Also, we will soon deport about 200 Venezuelans who are in our jails,” Prime Minister Persad Bissessar added.
“They can go home or file injunctions and remain in prison. It’s up to them, but they will not be free on our streets.”
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