Police SoE exercises lead to 27 arrests in one day

Police arrested almost 30 people on January 21 as part of ongoing state of emergency (SoE) exercises across the country.

In the first incident, at approximately 3.30 am, police in the Western Division targeted the home of a known priority offender on La Horquette Road, Glencoe.

Police searched his house and found nothing illegal, but still arrested him under Section 14 of the Emergency Powers Regulations 2024.

Around 4.55 am, police searched bushes and a stone wall along Spring Drive, Morne Coco Road, Petit Valley.

They found a black plastic bag with two smaller bags of marijuana and eight rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Acting on information received, they then searched a home at Savannah Terrace, Bagatelle, whose occupants they believed were in possession of illegal guns.

They found nothing illegal, but arrested the two men who were home at the time, under Section 14 of the SoE regulations.

Meanwhile, police in the North Central Division, went on an intelligence-led operation which started at 5.30 am and involved the Task Force, the Arouca CID and St Joseph CID.

During the exercise, police searched the home of an 18-year-old man in St Augustine.

They arrested him after finding bullets and three empty magazines hidden in a bedroom.

Police in the Port of Spain Division also did early-morning searches at apartment complexes on Duncan Street and Nelson Street, targeting several priority offenders.

They found a gun and a quantity of ammunition and arrested 21 suspects for various offences, including firearm and shooting offences, robbery and stealing electricity.

Later, in Couva, police stopped and searched a green Nissan Almera car.

They found a revolver and four rounds of ammunition.

The two men in the car, 61 and 25, both of Freeport, were arrested.

Investigations into the matters are ongoing.