Eight for­eign na­tion­als were ar­rest­ed dur­ing sep­a­rate ex­er­cis­es in south Trinidad on Thurs­day.

A state­ment from the TTPS yes­ter­day said that, in the first in­stance, two men and four for­eign na­tion­als were ar­rest­ed dur­ing an in­tel­li­gence-led op­er­a­tion in the Point Fortin Po­lice Dis­trict, con­duct­ed as part of Op­er­a­tion Sum­mer Slam.

The ex­er­cise, which took place be­tween 4 am and 8 am, tar­get­ed mul­ti­ple per­sons of in­ter­est. Of­fi­cers from the Point Fortin, La Brea, and Guapo Po­lice Sta­tions, along­side the Point Fortin Crim­i­nal In­ves­ti­ga­tions De­part­ment, were in­volved.

They re­ceived tac­ti­cal sup­port from the Na­tion­al Op­er­a­tions Task Force, Guard and Emer­gency Branch, In­ter-Agency Task Force, An­ti-Gang Unit, and South West­ern Di­vi­sion Task Force.

Dur­ing the op­er­a­tion, of­fi­cers vis­it­ed the homes of 14 per­sons of in­ter­est and con­duct­ed search­es.

At a res­i­dence on Balka­ran Street, War­den Road, Point Fortin, of­fi­cers en­coun­tered four women, aged 26, 21, 20, and 19, all for­eign na­tion­als, who were ar­rest­ed for il­le­gal im­mi­gra­tion.

The pri­ma­ry tar­get at the lo­ca­tion was al­so ar­rest­ed. At a sep­a­rate res­i­dence on 3rd Street, Techi­er Vil­lage, Point Fortin, of­fi­cers found 63 grammes of cannabis and ar­rest­ed a sec­ond in­di­vid­ual in con­nec­tion with the dis­cov­ery.

The op­er­a­tion was led by Snr Supt Thomp­son and co­or­di­nat­ed by ASP Forbes, ASP Cor­rie, ASP Lewis, and In­sp Prescott.

Mean­while, an­oth­er in­tel­li­gence-led an­ti-crime ex­er­cise un­der the on­go­ing State of Emer­gency (SoE) led to the de­ten­tion of four un­doc­u­ment­ed Venezue­lan na­tion­als and two Trinida­di­an na­tion­als in the San Fer­nan­do Po­lice Dis­trict.

The TTPS said this ex­er­cise took place be­tween 8 pm and 11 pm on Thurs­day. Act­ing on re­ceived in­tel­li­gence, of­fi­cers pro­ceed­ed to West Gulf, Bay View, La Ro­main, where they con­duct­ed a search at a house.

Dur­ing the search, four un­doc­u­ment­ed Venezue­lan women were dis­cov­ered: three 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old. Two Trinida­di­an na­tion­als—a 30-year-old fe­male and a 33-year-old male, both from West Gulf, Bay View, La Ro­main—were al­so de­tained pend­ing fur­ther in­ves­ti­ga­tions.

The op­er­a­tion was co­or­di­nat­ed by Snr Supt Si­mon, Supt Jaikaran, and In­sp Wilkin­son, and in­clud­ed of­fi­cers from the San Fer­nan­do Crim­i­nal In­ves­ti­ga­tions De­part­ment (CID), La Ro­main Po­lice Post, San Fer­nan­do Road En­force­ment Task Force, and the San Fer­nan­do Charge Room.