Marina workers, residents raise safety concerns after Monos Island kidnapping — Peninsula of fear

BOATMEN and residents Down D Islands are worried for their safety as 70-year-old boating and fishing standout Derek “Stones” Tardieu and his wife remain in the hands of kidnappers for a third day.

Some boatmen at Tardieu Marina in Chaguaramas told Newsday they felt unsafe even before Tardieu and his wife Clarabelle were kidnapped, while residents who live and have property on the islands expressed worry that the Tardieu kidnapping may be the start of an incursion of criminal elements in what is relatively regarded as a safe haven.

Newsday went to Tardieu Marine Ltd on December 9, where boatmen said they were worried that criminal elements may begin extorting businesses and boat owners.

“We don’t have any form of protection here,” one boatman said. “Even before the incident no one felt safe.”

“The same thing that happens in Sea Lots where businesses have to pay money every month. I got information that they want to do the same thing here – extortion and that kind of thing,” said another. “In Sea Lots boat owners have to pay money every month to the bad boys.”

Marina workers said Coast Guard and Marine Police patrols are scarce in those areas and that leaves them open to attacks from criminals. They said that while they have radios to alert of any criminal activity, they are not allowed to carry or possess firearms on the boats.

“In the event where people come on board with guns what can you do? Even if you try to contact someone they would already be trying to get inside. What can you do,” a boatman said. “I try to put the concern to the back of my mind, but it is still there. If the moment arises when someone decides to attack us what can we do? We have no form of security here. Anyone can come on the boats. Anyone can board the boats. So we don’t know.”

A fisherman, who was on the water off the Northwestern peninsula at the time Newsday contacted him by phone, said he felt relatively safe on the water.

“There is nothing suspicious on the water for the time being – at least from this side with boatmen who keep their hands clean. The Coast Guard (officers) are doing their work. We are 14 miles out from the coast in the gulf, and we are good. We might see the Coast Guard pass every hour or so.”

The fisherman said there was nothing suspicious on December 8 as well, noting that he passed on Monos Island at about 8 am.

“I didn’t even know the incident happened. When I passed by the island there was nothing out of the ordinary. It was only when I started fishing in the north that I started getting messages about the incident.”

Fishermen said it may be difficult to track down the couple and the kidnappers because of how open the waters are and how close Trinidad and Tobago is to the Venezuelan border.

“If they took him from Monos Island they could be on the mainland in about 30 to 40 minutes. As a fisherman, if you are a professional runner, I have heard that men have done it in 15 minutes. It is easier to reach Venezuela than it is to reach San Fernando from Chaguaramas,” he said.

President of the Island Property Owners Association Yohan Goviah said residents on the islands, who have lived in relative peace up until the incident, are now worried for their safety.

“The first thing we want to find out is if this is an isolated incident, or is it something that property owners should be concerned about,” Goviah said. “DDI is so exposed and open because it is a seafront, but we always thought it was a safe place to be. Now, this has us very uncomfortable knowing that our property and our lives may be at risk.

He said the community always felt safe down the islands with their major concerns being theft of engines from boats. He said break-ins, burglaries and robberies are very few and far in-between, but they have a good relationship with the Coast Guard, as Staubles Bay is nearby, as well as the marine police who, he said, was responsive.

However, he noted that the kidnapping had exposed the lack of security that residents have down the islands.

“It is still something to be concerned about. Because it is the sea and it is very open,” he said. “Although we have responsive authorities it is not as easy to apprehend someone as on land and of course, as our borders are so porous we always run the risk of the elements coming into the waters and into the space because Venezuela is so close to the islands.

“The law enforcement agencies also have their challenges in terms of resources and how they operate because I don’t think they do patrols 24/7 on the islands. I don’t know how readily available they have resources.

“We have people living down the islands, we actually have a community down the different islands. We are definitely uneasy, uncomfortable and concerned. If this is a target against people having property down there, we don’t know what would be next.”

Goviah suggested that the police partner with residents on the islands, who are willing to support, whether financially or otherwise.

“They could utilise the private sector and establish public/private partnerships and synchronise certain things and ensure that our borders and the islands and all that seafront is properly covered.”

According to police a voice note was sent to a relative’s phone from a strange phone number at about 9.44 pm on December 6 – it was the voice of Derek Tardieu claiming that he had been kidnapped.

“They have meh and they want US$2.5 million for meh release,” Tardieu said in the recording.

Relatives later rushed to the couple’s Blanchette Bay home where they found the place ransacked and the husband and wife missing.

Shortly after that social media was abuzz with a video of the couple with guns pointed to their heads and a grenade held to Tardieu’s chest. None of the captors’ faces was visible in the video but Tardieu could be seen pleading: “Robert, please, my life… oh God, oh God.”

Newsday was able to use a reverse phone lookup checker to track the origin of the first cellphone number. Trackers suggested that the number had a Colombian area code.

Sources also identified the grenade held against Tardieu’s chest as an M-26 grenade. According to google, variants of the grenade are also produced in several countries, including Colombia and are used by the Colombian military and police.

Outside the Red House on December 9, Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander said police has taken this incident as a high-priority case. He said the Ministry of Homeland Security is also looking at the incident “in a particular way.”

He complained of a lack of resources to properly protect the area.

“The question must be asked now, how are we to secure our citizens at that location? It seems that we were left with almost no assets, but we are working on something together with the minister of defence.”

He also took critics against the installation of a radar in Tobago to task saying that TT has to take a stance against people coming into TT’s waters and wreaking havoc.

“... Because, who knows, those persons could have come in the area on a boat and possibly from another place and abduct citizens of this good land. I don’t want to give out too much information because the police have some info.”

He told reporters the radar would “definitely” be an asset to finding the kidnap victims.

At the 16th House sitting at the Red House on December 9, Alexander, responding to questions from the opposition said efforts are being made to keep the area safe.

“The TT Police Service, who has a responsibility to protect and serve with pride, at this time, they are co-ordinating operations with the TT coast guard in specific areas considered vulnerable. As a result of that, their intentions are to protect the citizens in and around those areas considered vulnerable; but also, it includes to safeguard the republic of TT and to prevent further incidents of that nature.”

Questions on why the radar did not pick up or detect boats coming into TT’s waters were blocked by the Speaker.

In response to concerns raised by boatmen Western Division ACP Henry said, while he is not aware of any reports of threats people should alert the police of any and all criminal activities.

“If anyone is trying to extort money and so on, this is something that we would want to know promptly so we can take immediate action. Once we get the information we are going to act upon it. If there is anyone that has information toward that, the quicker the better.”

A news release from the TTPS received at at 5.12 pm on December 9, confirmed that a report of kidnapping was made on December 7.

The release said while the matter is currently at a sensitive stage in an active investigation, the TTPS assures that all necessary investigative resources have been mobilised. The TTPS appealed to members of the public and media practitioners to exercise restraint in report as “speculative or premature disclosures may place the lives and safety of the victims at serious risk.”

“As soon as it is safe and appropriate to do so, updated information will be provided,” the release said.