T&T Police Credit US Radar System For Seizure of More Than TT$170 Million in Drugs

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is crediting the presence of a controversial United States radar system on Tobago as helping in the seizure of more than TT$170 million in drugs seized earlier this week.

Drugs seized in Caroni swamp (TTPS Photo)A TTPS statement said that it has achieved a significant breakthrough in its border security operations with the newly installed radar system delivering its first major success; a large narcotics seizure in the Caroni Swamp.

“The radar system, recently commissioned to strengthen the national security apparatus, was instrumental in this discovery. The nature of the technology and operational aspects of the exercise cannot be shared with the public but the intelligence triggered a coordinated response led by the Commissioner of Police, Allister Guevarr,” the TTPS said in the statement.

It said specialised units including the Multi-Option Police Section (MOPS) of the Special Branch, the Coastal and Air Support Unit (CASU), the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), and other intelligence arms, were mobilised and guided by the intelligence, officers journeyed overnight into the mangrove of the Caroni Swamp where they recovered the stashed illegal cargo.

It said that the vessel which carried the drugs is now being processed by the authorities.

“The seized narcotics, upon examination and weighing, amounted to 1,560 kilograms of ‘creepy marijuana’, with an estimated street value of $171,205,320. No arrests were made during the operation. Investigations are continuing as the TTPS intensifies its intelligence-led approach to dismantling narcotics networks and safeguarding the borders of Trinidad and Tobago,” the statement said. It quoted the Police Commissioner as commending the effectiveness of the radar system and the coordinated efforts of all units involved, underscoring that the TTPS remains resolute in protecting the nation from the scourge of illegal drugs.

The presence of the radar system has led to at least three political parties in Tobago, campaigning for the January 12 Tobago House of Assembly (THA) to call on the government to have it removed, saying that Tobago could become a target for Venezuela, if it is attacked by the United States

THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine had said late last month that he was not consulted when the government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar gave permission for the Americans to set up the radar.

But the Prime Minister later admitted that US marines are in Tobago, working on radar and that she initially withheld the information to avoid “tipping off” narco-traffickers and gun-running networks operating in local waters.

She said that the new radar surveillance is intended to strengthen Trinidad and Tobago’s ability to detect and monitor illicit trafficking by sea and land.

Persad-Bissessar reiterated that the operation is strictly anti-narcotics focused and not a prelude to any military action against Venezuela.

Earlier this week, a US Mass Communication specialist’s radio announcement has confirmed that the radar installed by the US military forces in Trinidad and Tobago is indeed an AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR radar – and that officials say “it can be used in US conflict with Venezuela.”

Radio GTMO is the US military radio station at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (GTMO) in Cuba. It is operated locally by Mass Communication and Interior Communications Electrician sailors of the US Navy. The station serves American service personnel and their families stationed at the military base.