Bajan AG seeks answers on abduction of Trinidad and Tobago arms dealer

The abduction of a Trinidad and Tobago arms dealer from Barbados to face criminal charges has sparked a high-level intervention by Bajan authorities.

Barbados Attorney General Dale Marshall is quoted in media reports in both the Barbados Nation and Barbados Today published on Tuesday calling on the Commissioner of Police, Richard Boyce, for a report.

"I am aware of the decision of the TT High Court justice and I have requested a report on the matter from the Commissioner of Police. Until then, I can make no useful comment."

Marshall was referring to the April 25 judgment of TT judge Devindra Rampersad in favour of firearms dealer Brent Thomas.

Marshall and Boyce did not respond to messages and calls from Newsday.

The judge made scathing remarks about the police conduct in the matter and found Thomas was abducted from Barbados and brought back to TT to face charges. The court stayed the criminal charges and referred its findings to both the Commissioner of Police and the Justice of the Peace Association for investigation.

Thomas, 61, the owner of Specialist Shooters Training Centre, had been charged with possession of grenades and automatic rifles, which are prohibited under the Firearms Act.

The Police Complaints Authority has since opened an independent investigation into the conduct of police assigned to the Professional Standards Bureau.

On May 1, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, in a statement broadcast on state television station TTT, said no government official was involved in the police operation against Thomas, but noted that matter will be appealed.

The judgment made specific reference to Thomas's arrest by officers from the Barbados Royal Police Force in his hotel room. He was taken to the Grantley Adams Airport and was returned to TT on a military aircraft.

Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young told Parliament the aircraft belonged to the Regional Security System, which is primarily used for counter-narcotics surveillance in the Caribbean.

In a a statement on Wednesday, political leader of the National Transformation Alliance Gary Griffith criticised Hinds's statement, saying the media were given no opportunity to question Thomas's abduction, the use of illegal warrants and the use of a military aircraft to bring Thomas back to TT.