Cops make $19m cocaine bust, arrest 17 during busy weekend

POLICE had a busy few days arresting 17 people and destroying more than 4,000 marijuana trees after they seized $19 million in cocaine.

The arrests began on November 7 after officers received information on two cars said to be transporting drugs.

They assembled a team and intercepted both cars on the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway near Grand Bazaar.

They searched the cars, a Toyota Corolla and Nissan Bluebird Sylphy, and found a black plastic bag in the trunk of the Corolla.

The bag contained 12 packets of cocaine hydrochloride, a drug which is also used as a local anaesthetic in some medical procedures.

The drugs, weighing 13.8 kg, have an estimated street value of $19,236,096.

Police arrested the driver of the Corolla, a prison officer who is currently on suspension.

They also held a 19-year-old man and 35-year-old man, both from Fyzabad, in connection with the find.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Junior Benjamin told Newsday last weekend's arrests were part of the police's plan to “end this year strongly” and take the fight to the criminals by implementing specific anti-crime strategies.

He commended officers for “going beyond the call” to ensure the strategies were successful and said the public could expect more from the police, adding, "This is only the beginning.

“We recognise that the society is demanding more of us and we have to rise up and really give back to society so that they can have faith in the work that the police is doing.
"So we really have to keep on pushing, and we expect to see even more results as we continue the fight and understand that it's about intelligence-led, evidence-based solutions to crime that will get us there.”

On November 8, police destroyed approximately 4,000 marijuana trees they found while chasing three suspected teenage bandits in Aripo.

At around 7.30am, police responded to a report of robbery in progress at Smithfield Lands. They arrived to see three people leaving the home.

On seeing the police, the bandits shot at them before running off as the police shot back.

Police cordoned off the area and  found and arrested one man while officers followed the others into a nearby forested area.

Police on a joint operation in the area joined in and found a marijuana field with approximately 4,000 fully-grown marijuana plants with an estimated value of $2,400,000.

They destroyed the plants, but no one was arrested in connection with the find.

Police later found the other suspects, two teenage brothers from Valencia.

Police in Diego Martin found and destroyed marijuana 100 trees during an exercise on November 9.

Officers acting on information hiked almost three miles into a forested area off Good Session Drive, Patna Village, Diego Martin.

They found a black bulletproof vest hidden under a heap of dry leaves.

They widened their search and found approximately 100 fully grown marijuana trees, which they uprooted and destroyed.

One officer had to be taken to hospital after he fell and injured his knee.

No one was arrested in connection with the find.

A police exercise in the North Central Division on November 8 resulted in the arrest of two men found liming at separate bars with guns hidden on them and four Venezuelans who are believed to have entered the country illegally.

Officers from the North Central Division Major Crimes Unit and the St Joseph Criminal Investigation Department (CID), acting on information, went to Latina Fiesta on the Southern Main Road, Curepe at around 10 pm.

While there they searched a 31-year-old Cumuto man and found a black Tanfoglio pistol hidden in the waistband of his pants.

The gun had a magazine containing ten rounds of 9mm ammunition.

The man was arrested and taken to the St Joseph Police Station.

The same officers were patrolling the Eastern Main Road, Arouca several hours later when, near a popular bar, they saw a man look in their direction and then run into the bar.

They caught him, searched his bag and found a black Glock 19 pistol. The gun was fitted with an extended magazine with 16 rounds of 9mm ammunition, four of which were marked "TTR."

The 33-year-old man, who lives in Arouca, was arrested and taken to the St Joseph Police Station.

Police then went to Ward Street Extension, El Socorro, where four Venezuelans were taken into custody.

They are believed to have entered the country illegally and police will confirm their identities and immigration status before deporting them.

Officers on November 9 then arrested four men believed to be responsible for robbing a circus owner and his employees last month.

The robbery took place on October 29 at Endeavour Avenue, Chaguanas, as the owner of Suarez Brothers Circus was about to pay employees at the back of the circus.

Reports say a white Nissan B15 pulled up and four armed men got out. They took $30,000 from the owner, along with his passport and other personal documents. One employee was beaten and robbed of $2,300, and $500 was taken from the other.

The robbers then got back into the car and drove off.

In a media release on November 10, police said the men were held during an intelligence-led operation in the Chaguanas district between 6.15 pm and 10.15 pm on November 9.

“During the exercise, officers of the Chaguanas CID arrested three male suspects, ages 20 to 32, of Claxton Bay, in connection with the incident.”

Also on November 9, police held a man believed to be responsible for stealing almost $80,000 in cash and jewellery from a Toco businessman.

The businessman lives on the compound of a beach house he owns and runs.

He told police he left his apartment around 7 pm on November 8 to go to the supermarket. He returned at around 8.30 pm but did not go straight to his apartment.

When he went there at around 4 am he found it had been ransacked, and someone had stolen a wedding band, worth $18,000, along with a quantity of TT and US cash.

Toco police  launched an investigation and, hours later, arrested a 26-year-old man who was a tenant at the beach house.

Police continue, meanwhile, to search for suspects in other incidents over the weekend, including the person responsible for an early-morning shooting on Ariapita Avenue on November 10 that left three teenagers injured.

Around 6.05 am, a group of people were liming outside a bar at the corner of Ariapita Avenue and Alberto Street.

A gunman approached and fired several shots at them.

Two girls and one boy were left with gunshot wounds. The boy was shot in the buttocks, one girl was shot in the ankle and the other victim’s shin was grazed by a bullet.

The three were taken to hospital, where they are warded in a stable condition.

Police are searching for a person of interest in relation to the incident.

Benjamin called on the public to continue to work with the police and said every gun and bullet seized was a life saved.

He urged people to imagine what could be achieved if the public truly co-operated with the police.

“We want to just encourage the public to, if they see something, say something. They are the ones who are seeing and hearing (the information). What you're seeing now is really the fight of the police, but if we get the public on board, we can do twice or three times as much, and together, we can rid this nation of those persons that really want to bring down the true name of TT.”