[UPDATED] Quarry boss, 17 others out on $50,000 bail

BUSINESSMAN Danny Guerra, who played a role in general election campaign to secure the Toco/Sangre Grande constituency for the ruling UNC, has been charged with unlawful processing of aggregate without a licence from the Ministry of Energy.

Guerra, 50, of North Oropouche Road, Sangre Grande, the proprietor of DG Homes, a real estate company with housing estates in several parts of the country, was released on bail around 5 am from the St Joseph Police Station on October 11.

Guerra, a manager of D Guerra Ltd, also owns several other companies under D Guerra Group of Companies.

He along with the his son, Garvin Guerra, 28, of North Oropouche Road, and 16 others were detained after a major police operation on October 9, which shut down an illegal quarry site at Manuel Congo, Guanapo, and led to the seizure of multi-million dollar processing plant, trucks and other heavy machinery.

On October 10, Guerra, his son, a supervisor of D Guerra Ltd, and Carmino Ltd company director Rolf Ferriera, 64, of Alyce Glen, Diego Martin, were taken for treatment to St Augustine Private Hospital, under police guard, after falling ill during their detention.

Also charged

Also charged at Carminco Ltd supervisor Hannah Bovell, of Sinanan Flats, Curepe; loader/operator Devon Julian, 39, of Bailey Street, River Road, Arima; loader/operator Claudius Lewis, 55, of Silica Road, Wallerfield; truck driver Kenrick Trinidad, 54, of North Manzanilla; maintenance labourer Andy Pascall, 59, of Pelican Avenue, Couva; truck driver Tyrone Lazar, 34, of Moonan Road, Wallerfield; labourer Darren Seepersad, 38, of Wine Factory Road, Toco Road, Sangre Grande; cleaner Adam Pitt, 29, of Fishing Pond, Sangre Grande; pump attendant Ricardo Singh, 43, of Icecream Corner, Matura; pump mechanic/washplant attendant Andre Wilson, 48, of Southern Main Road, Cunupia; truck driver Kisham Sammy, 50, of Princes Town; truck driver Neville Chutkhan, 48, of Dow Village, California; Venezuelan nationals Rivas Lara, 50 and William Jimenz, 50, who both lived at the quarry site and 36-year-old Jamaican Jermaine Charles.

They were each granted $50,000 bail by a Justice of the Peace in the early hours of October 11.

Among the machinery seized at the site are a multi-million-dollar washplant, four excavators, three overloaders, a D6 bulldozer, over ten trucks, ten company vehicles, including pickups, and two buildings on the site. Officers of the Guard and Emergency Branch have been assigned to remain on site as it remains an active crime scene.

Media exposé

The raid at the quarry follows Sunday Newsday expose on June 29 uncovering the scale of the illegal site and the pollution of the Guanapo River which fed into the intake of the Caroni Water Treatment Plant. The story prompted a visit by Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, who had only days before assumed office, and operations were brought to a halt.

However, in the ensuing weeks quarry activities restarted at an even larger scale and hectares of virgin forest were cleared and tonnes of valuable aggregate excavated and carted away.

Police said Guerra owned 27.1 hectares of land on the San Carlos Estate, Manuel Congo, Guanapo, and Carminco Ltd had been granted a Certificate of Environmental Clearance from the Environmental Management Authority on May 31, 2016. The Ministry of Energy on March 27, 2023 published an ad which stated that Carminco Ltd had made two applications mining and processing licences for the same site.

Investigators uncovered that quarry operations were taking place on both state and private lands averaging 38 hectares.

The offence

A police statement on October 11 said all of the suspects were charged under Section 45 of the Minerals Act and are scheduled to appear before an Arima magistrate on October 22.

According to Section 45 of the act:

A person who (a) explores for, or mines, processes, imports or exports, any mineral without a licence issued under this Act; or

(b) mines in an area that is not a mining zone, commits an offence and shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine of five hundred thousand dollars and imprisonment for a term of five years, and in the case of a subsequent conviction for such offence, shall be liable to a fine of $700,000 and imprisonment for a term of seven years.

Police said officers of the Financial Investigation Branch will continue their probe relating to the confiscation of assets and proceeds from the alleged illegal quarry activity.

Multi-million-dollar industry

In an operation on October 9, led by Guevarro, Deputy Commissioner (Intelligence and Investigations) Natasha George, ACP Richard Smith, head of the Multi-Agency Task Force Supt Leon Haynes, and other specialised units, police moved in on the illegal quarry operations and caught several machine operators, truck drivers and workers on site. The quarry operator was arrested in a simultaneous exercise.

Investigations remain active as officers pursue additional evidence and identify further conspirators, the statement said.

Police said they targeted the illegal quarry for over a year as it not only resulted in a loss of aggregate worth millions of dollars, but also led to “deforestation and unauthorised extraction of aggregate material, but also from the downstream financing of organised crime, including gang violence and homicides linked to territorial control of these illicit sites.”

According to the statement, Guevarro praised the officers for “their diligence and strategic precision, reaffirming the TTPS’ commitment to protecting national resources and public safety. He emphasised that the service will pursue every evidential lead in an effort to ‘extract’ all those involved and called on citizens to stand with law enforcement in dismantling organised criminal networks.

“They dug deep to steal aggregate,” Guevarro said “But we dug deeper and this time, it wasn’t gravel we extracted.”

Officers from the Multi-Option Police Section (MOPS), Special Operations Unit (SOU), and the Coastal and Air Support Unit (CASU), were also involved in the exercise. The site remains under police guard as investigations continue.

Human trafficking enquiry

In January, Justice Frank Seepersad ruled in favour of Guerra after he challenged the conduct of the police by him denying his the right to seek advice from his attorney Gerald Ramdeen during a search by officers of the Special Investigations Unit.

Guerra’s then attorneys Wayne Sturge (Toco/Sangre Grande MP and Minister of Defence) and Dayadai Harripaul obtained an emergency injunction preventing the police from probing his business in its investigation into alleged human trafficking and allegedly paying workers below the national minimum wage.

That matter remains under active investigation.

This story was originally published with the title "Illegal quarry boss, 17 employees charged after Manuel Congo raid" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

POLICE have charged the owner of an illegal quarry at Manuel Congo, Guanapo and 17 of his employees with unlawful processing of minerals without a licence.

A police statement on October 11 said the suspects were charged under Section 45 of the Minerals Act and are scheduled to appear in court on October 22.

They were each granted $50,000 bail by a Justice of the Peace in the wee hours of October 11.

In an operation on October 9, led by Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, Deputy Commissioner (Intelligence and Investigations) Natasha George, ACP Richard Smith, head of the Multi-Agency Task Force Supt Leon Haynes, and other specialised units, police moved in on the illegal quarry operations and caught several machine operators, truck drivers and workers on site.

The quarry operator was arrested in a simultaneous exercise.

Investigations remain active as officers pursue additional evidence and identify further conspirators, the statement said.

Police said they targeted the illegal quarry for over a year as it not only resulted in a loss of aggregate worth millions of dollars, but also led to "deforestation and unauthorised extraction of aggregate material, but also from the downstream financing of organised crime, including gang violence and homicides linked to territorial control of these illicit sites."

According to the statement, Guevarro praised the officers for "their diligence and strategic precision, reaffirming the TTPS’ commitment to protecting national resources and public safety. He emphasised that the service will pursue every evidential lead in an effort to 'extract' all those involved and called on citizens to stand with law enforcement in dismantling organized criminal networks.

“They dug deep to steal aggregate,” Guevarro said “But we dug deeper and this time, it wasn’t gravel we extracted.”

Officers from the Multi-Option Police Section (MOPS), Special Operations Unit (SOU), and the Coastal and Air Support Unit (CASU), were also involved in the exercise. The site remains under police guard as investigations continue.