A $3 million hit has been ordered on head of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) Sgt Mark Hernandez. It was reportedly co-ordinated by a religious leader with the help of a high-risk inmate at the maximum security prison (MSP).
The Sunday Guardian received information on the hit following the killing of Glean “Shooter” Bain by SORT officers in a shootout on Laventille Road, San Juan, near Ramish and Leela on January 31.
Senior police officers confirmed that Bain was part of an elaborate plan to execute the SORT head. He was reportedly on his way to pick up a Jamaican hitman flown into the country to help carry out the contract killing, when he was intercepted by SORT officers and shot dead.
Intelligence officers got details of the threat on January 30 and acted a day later.
Through intelligence gathering, police found out that the religious leader had reached out to the high-risk inmate and asked him to plan and execute the hit with his foot soldiers on the outside.
The high-risk inmate, who police intelligence sources said was part of a well-connected criminal network, spoke with Bain about planning and orchestrating the hit on Sgt Hernandez.
To seal the deal, the religious leader, allegedly with the assistance of a lawyer, paid $1 million upfront in US and TT dollars. The money was given to Bain and the Jamaican hitman as part payment for the job. The remaining $2 million would have been paid upon completion of the hit.
Bain, with the help of the hitman and other accomplices, found out where Hernandez lived, the type of vehicle he drove and his normal route to work.
The plan was to carry out the attack using high-powered weapons and explosives to target the senior officer while he was driving. A man with the alias “C” had collected two grenades from a man with the initials R sometime between January 29 and 30, intelligence sources said.
The threat on Sgt Hernandez’s life intensified as of March 6 when the high-risk inmate attempted to contact persons on the outside to silence the SORT head.
The high-risk inmate, who is originally from north Trinidad, was recently removed from cellblock 13 at the MSP and placed in the general prison population.
Sources inside the prison told the Sunday Guardian he has been trying to obtain a cellphone to contact his criminal associates. The inmate is described as resourceful and is a member of a criminal network that is wide-ranging. He has in the past has “co-ordinated murders and shootings whilst being incarcerated.”
Intelligence sources said since the latest threat against Hernandez, precautionary measures have been put in place. There has also been a concerted effort to locate known associates of the high-risk inmate who are allegedly part of the plan to execute Sgt Hernandez.
When Sunday Guardian contacted Hernandez, he directed all questions to Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith, who said in a brief telephone interview, “As you know, I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.”
