Spy games

JENSEN LA VENDE

Two days before the US Embassy increased their advisory to their citizens warning them to stay away from parts of the city, a US military plane that was in Montenegro began its journey to TT.

The aircraft, which was carries identification NARK73 on FlightAware and has an unknown owner, arrived in the country at 2.31 pm yesterday. The plane, the Sunday Newsday was told, is a surveillance-gathering aircraft used by the US and also provides “US crisis response.” The plane landed one day before Russian ship Viktor Leonov which was labelled as a spy ship, is scheduled to leave the country.

The Viktor Leonov arrived in the country on Thursday and is scheduled to leave today. It was docked at the Port of Spain International Waterfront. This is the second time for the year that the ship has been in the country. Calls to the National Security Minister Edmund Dillon’s cellphones went unanswered yesterday and Friday when the ship was first noticed.

Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan when contacted said it is not unusual for a ship of that nature to seek and receive clearance to dock in the country. When asked about the implications of the ship’s presence given the recent pronouncement of a terror plot being unearthed and the US embassy advising their citizens to be cautious, Sinanan said he would not want to comment on National Security issues.

According to a CNN report, the Viktor Leonov was said to have left TT last month to spy on US military bases along the US east coast.

The Boeing C-32B left a military base in Montenegro last Wednesday. The plane, which carries a South American foreign emergency support team, began its journey at the Golubvci Airbase then made three flights the following day beginning at the Stuttgart Echterdingen International Airport in Germany before leaving for Bangor International Airport, a part military, part civilian airport, then to Hurlburt Field Airport which is a US Air Force base, then to Tampa International Airport. Two days later the plane left for Trinidad. A US special operations team is also headed for Guyana which has a Russian embassy which the Sunday Newsday was advised to contact regarding the Viktor Leonov. No one was at that embassy when the Sunday Newsday called yesterday.

In the latest US advisory, the embassy advised Americans visiting and/or living/working in TT to exercise “increased caution” due to crime and terrorism. “Do not travel to some areas of Port of Spain due to crime,” it warned. The advisory specifically said murder, robbery, assault, sexual assault, home invasion and kidnapping were common. It also said gang activity such as narcotics trafficking was also common and a significant portion of violent crime was gang-related.

“Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas,” the advisory stated.

Contacted on Friday, when the Russian ship was spotted, the US Embassy said any questions relating to the ship should be posed to local authorities. Regarding the updated advisory, the US Embassy said the increased threat came as other embassies also increased their threat levels to their citizens. The Sunday Newsday checked the websites for the UK and Canadian embassies but only the US had increased their advisory. The UK and Canada issued advisories on February 16 and 19 respectively and both said the issued advisory on those days remained valid today. The US issued their first advisory on February 8. In the updated advisory under a heading marked Port of Spain, the advisory sets out a ban on US government personnel from going to certain areas of the country.