Manuel Congo illegal quarrying – Cycle of raid, rebuild, resume ended

FOLLOWING a Sunday Newsday Page 1 story, on June 29, on an illegal quarrying site in Manuel Congo, Guanapo, then newly-minted Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro visited the site in July, and the operation was shut down.

However, in a shocking development, on October 9 – just three months after his initial visit – Guevarro returned to the same location, this time declaring that the police was shutting down for good, a multimillion-dollar illegal quarrying outfit that included modern machinery which cleared acres of virgin forests, bit into hills and the ground, chewed up tonnes of earth and rock and converted them into aggregate worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

This development follows a series of public warnings and an in-depth investigation by Newsday.

In March 2025, the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) issued a statement condemning illegal quarrying operations polluting the Guanapo River.

WASA said a contractor had been discharging effluent directly into drains feeding the river, visibly discolouring the watercourse and threatening operations of the Caroni Water Treatment Plant which provides potable water to hundreds of thousands of people.

While the plant continued to meet safety standards, WASA warned this was not an isolated event. Similar incidents in 2021 had forced service disruptions.

Despite the severity of the warning, no significant enforcement action was taken in the months that followed.

QUARRYING OPERATIONS UNEARTHED

Then in June, Sunday Newsday published a detailed exposé uncovering the scale of the illegal quarrying. On June 25, officers from the Multi-Agency Task Force, an elite police unit, were alerted to the activity and a report was swiftly delivered to Commissioner Guevarro.

That Newsday investigation alleged the operator, based in Sangre Grande, had illegally excavated more than five hectares of state land, moving tonnes of aggregate on to nearby private property.

The operator, who did not possess a mining licence, was also linked to quarrying activities in Melajo, Matura, Wallerfield, and other areas.

These operations – which saw acres of virgin forests denuded, untold numbers of wildlife displaced and many rivers polluted and turned into slush ponds – continued for years under the watch of the Ministry of Energy (the line ministry for mining), the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) and the Forestry Division, with little to no intervention

Sources claimed the operator had political connections across major parties and used profits from illegal quarrying to fund real estate developments and other legitimate business ventures.

On June 27, Newsday shared its findings with WASA. The following day, WASA issued a strongly-worded statement condemning the “reckless and unlawful” discharge of effluent into tributaries leading to the Guanapo River.

WASA INTERVENES

WASA said the pollution already compromised water-production efficiency at the Caroni plant, forcing the authority to implement additional purification measures to maintain safety standards. The agency confirmed it was working with other regulatory bodies to halt the activity.

In response to mounting public concern, widespread media attention and social media condemnation, Commissioner Guevarro led a “targeted operation” on July 2, visiting illegal quarrying sites in Sangre Grande, Valencia and Manuel Congo.

A TTPS press release on July 3 confirmed the raid, acknowledging the serious environmental and infrastructural impacts of illegal quarrying, including disruptions to WASA’s operations. The release also noted that investigations were underway to determine the extent of any criminal conduct linked to the sites.

Following the police operation, the Guanapo site appeared to have ceased activity.

This however, was short-lived, as operations not only resumed but were expanded to the point that when the police led a raid on October 9, the plant was complete with modern quarrying facilities including motorised conveyor belts, aggregate washing facilities and specialised heavy machinery.

It remains to be seen where investigations will lead, as police confirmed that at least 19 people were arrested in the October 9 raid, including the owner of the Manuel Congo illegal quarry who police described as the "big boss" of illegal quarrying in the country.