Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹 imposes another state of emergency after uncovering plot to kill key officials

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Trinidad and Tobago imposes another state of emergency after uncovering plot to kill key officials

Authorities in Trinidad and Tobago have declared a new state of emergency after accusing “a coordinated and highly dangerous criminal network” operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions.

apnews.com

Trinidad and Tobago imposes another state of emergency after uncovering plot to kill key officials​

The country’s coat of arms is displayed on the facade of a government building in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Aug. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ash Allen, File)
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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Trinidad and Tobago declared a new state of emergency Friday after authorities accused a criminal network operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions.

It’s the second state of emergency to be declared in the twin-island republic in a matter of months. Last December, authorities took similar action citing concerns about gang violence. That state of emergency lasted until mid-April.

Police said that smuggled cell phones enabled those involved in the plot to exchange encrypted messages. Months of intelligence gathering led investigators to believe the targets included senior police officers, members of the judiciary and employees at the state prosecution office, police said. There were no particular threats to any politicians, police said.

“They were planning, actively so, to carry out assassinations, robberies, and kidnappings.” Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro said at a news conference. Police described those involved as “a coordinated and highly dangerous criminal network.”

Guevarro said the intelligence report prompted him to recommend that newly elected Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declare the emergency.

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Gang leaders who were housed in a maximum-security prison in east Trinidad — where illegal possession of cellphones and other communication devices has long been a problem — have been relocated to an unidentified facility, he said, without providing any details.

“We have seen recent acts of kidnapping and homicides being perpetrated against our citizenry that we have been able to trace back to this organized crime syndicate,” Guevarro said.

Under the state of emergency, police can conduct searches and make arrests without a warrant. A curfew has not been put into effect.

Last year, the country of more than 1.4 million people reported 624 killings, its deadliest on record, according to police data. As of July 17, police said the number of killings this year stood at 214, a decline compared to 325 killings in the same period last year.

 

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Trinidad and Tobago declares second state of emergency, citing gang threat

Police commissioner says there has been intelligence of formation of organised crime syndicate intent on havoc

www.theguardian.com

Trinidad and Tobago declares second state of emergency, citing gang threat
Police commissioner says there has been intelligence of formation of organised crime syndicate intent on havoc

Natricia Duncan and Kejan Haynes
Police on the streets of Port of Spain.
Police in Port of Spain. The commissioner said there had been no surge in crime, calling the pre-emptive action part of a strategy. Photograph: Miami Herald/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
Trinidad and Tobago has declared its second state of emergency this year amid “grave concerns” about a coordinated threat from organised crime gangs inside and outside the country’s prisons.

Announcing the decision on Friday, the commissioner of police, Allister Guevarro, said his force had received intelligence the day before that the gangs had “formed themselves into … an organised crime syndicate” and were intent on wreaking havoc and planning assassinations, robberies and kidnappings.

He confirmed that authorities had started relocating certain gang leaders from the prison system to another facility to manage the threat.

“There are persons who seem hellbent on facilitating the communication of these persons with the outside,” he said. “So by removing them from this environment and placing them in one where they are much more secure, I can feel rest assured that communication link is broken.”

He would not confirm whether any member of the protective services were involved in the syndicate.

Despite Friday’s declaration, Guevarro insisted there had been no recent surge in crime, calling the pre-emptive action part of a broader strategy developed in consultation with the minister of homeland security.

The twin-island Caribbean country, which has a population of about 1.5 million, has been struggling with rising homicides and gang violence for more than a decade. Last year it recorded 624 homicides, making it one of the most violent countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. In May this year, local media reported a 33% decrease compared with the same period in 2024 and 2023.

But the country’s attorney general, John Jeremie, said on Friday there had been a resurgence of gang-related homicides and kidnappings. Responding to a question about the length of the state of emergency he said it would be for “as long as the security forces tell us that they need the additional legislative support”.

The terms of the current state of emergency mirror those of one announced in December 2024 and extended for three months in January this year. There is no curfew in place, and citizens are free to move about. However, law enforcement officers now have enhanced powers, including the ability to enter premises without a warrant.

The former Trinidad and Tobago police commissioner Gary Griffith called the declaration “ridiculous” and said the issue could have been resolved with better prison management.

 

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