An intensive police exercise in the Maraval Forest, involving scores of law enforcement officers from various agencies, has resulted in the seizure of 813 kilos of marijuana. The exercise which was co-ordinated by Senior Supt Ismael David, began around 10 am on Tuesday when a team of officers, acting on intelligence gathered over the past few weeks, hiked four miles into the forested area near Cameron Hill in Maraval where they discovered the substantial shipment of marijuana.
The lawmen were unable to remove the drugs on Tuesday because of the rough and dangerous terrain in the forest. While some of the officers spent the night at the camp to guard the narcotics, most returned yesterday morning with the assistance of a Ministry of National Security helicopter.
The drugs, which had a street value of more that $8.4 million, were found divided into more than 100 bundles, which were wrapped in several layers of plastic. While speaking at an impromptu media conference at the St James Police Station after the exercise, David thanked his officers for their dedication and hard work.
David: "I would like to firstly thank God for making this exercise a success and for keeping all my officers safe." During a search of the area around the make-shift camp used by the smugglers, the lawmen managed to find a loaded trap-gun which was placed there to stop rival gangs from looting the shipment of drugs. David said such weapons were especially dangerous as they are easily concealed in the thick undergrowth of the forest.
He said that the exercise was consistant with the mandate set by acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams and members of the Police Service's executive. David said that investigators believe that the drugs were imported to Trinidad from St Vincent, with the drug smugglers using a inaccessible beach along the north west coast of the island.
The exercise included officers from the T&T Regiment and Coast Guard as well as several police tactical units based in the Western Division.