25 held after East PoS patrol

Despite reports of gunfire, no one was killed or wounded during a large police patrol in Duncan, George and Nelson Streets, in East Port of Spain yesterday.

Speaking with Newsday, members of the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) confirmed they began the patrolat about 2 pm with the intention of arresting members of the Muslim gang, whom they considered suspects in various shooting and firearm offences.

They reported that while they were on upper Nelson Street, there was a drive-by shooting metres away, lower down the street, which sent several residents running for cover, but no one was wounded.

Police said members of the rival Rasta City gang then came into the area and tried to take control.

A senior police officer said the IATF saw this and began questioning and detaining some of these men whom they recognised as strangers in the area. Twenty-five people were detained.

He said, "There were no woundings or murders, just an exchange of words between both gangs, but police took control of everything.

"There were reports of loud explosions but I couldn't verify if it was true."

He said the rival gang thought the arrest of their Muslim counterparts would create a power vacuum in the community, and that was why they turned up.

Several residents recorded videos on their phones of suspects being detained and posted them to social media, which possibly alerted the Rasta City gang to the operation.

"These Rasta City guys were trying to come into the Muslim territory when we were there in Nelson Street. After we detained the Muslim guys, the Rastas thought they could come in and take over, and that's where the problem came from."

The officer said the IATF maintained a visible presence in east Port of Spain overnight.

"We've kept an eye on everything. It's an ongoing exercise and we have others coming up because these gangs might see the lull as an opportunity to play the fool. During operations you will see these things going on to try and get the police to retreat, but we will continue our intelligence-gathering."