Cops raid Copacabana, 10 held

Nine Venezuelan women and a Venezuelan man were detained on Friday night following a raid at the Copacabana Hotel in Port of Spain.

Reports reveal that shortly before midnight on Friday, officers of the Port of Spain CID went to the popular establishment where they detained the ten illegal immigrants.

The women and man were unable to provide travel documents and admitted they were in the country illegally.

The ten were taken to the Port of Spain CID where they were charged with being in breach of the immigration laws.

Between Thursday and Friday, 43 Venezuelan women and a Venezuelan man were detained in exercises led by Snr Supt Persad in Port of Spain, Central and Southern Divisions.

Police said yesterday that due to the financial downturn in Venezuela unscrupulous businessmen were seeking out poor Venezuelan women and sometimes men to bring them into the country for prostitution purposes.

Immigration sources said yesterday the Venezuelans were being brought to this country by boat through points of entry such as Cedros and Moruga.

They said the women were being paid menial wages and housed in inhumane conditions.

The detainees were expected to be taken to the Immigration Detention Centre pending their deportation.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said yesterday he was working closely with the Venezuelan government to have the immigrants sent back with the use of TT Coast Guard vessels. Several of the detainees have expressed interest in seeking refugee status because of the turmoil in their country but immigration sources said they simply do not qualify.