Lead Editor - Newsgathering
kejan.haynes@guardian.co.tt
Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander has commended the T&T Police Service for what he described as “good work” during Thursday’s multi-agency raid that shut down an illegal quarrying and mining operation in Arima.
“The police doing quite well,” Alexander said when asked yesterday about the exercise, which followed a year of surveillance.
When questioned if that length of time was normal, he replied, “You can surveil things for three years.”
Asked what the next step would be, he added, “That’s for the police to do.”
The pre-dawn operation, led by Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, brought together specialised units of the TTPS, including the Special Operations Unit, the Criminal Investigations Department, the Crime Scene Investigation Unit, and the Multi-Option Police Section, along with officials from the State Lands Department and the Director of Minerals.
Officers moved in just after 5 am and found a large-scale illegal quarrying site in the Manuel Congo area of Arima. Several people fled into the nearby forest as the team arrived, but 19 suspects were arrested.
Meanwhile, asked about Housing Minister David Lee’s ongoing legal troubles and whether he should resign, Alexander appeared to deflect the question, jokingly pulling out a plastic bag.
He asked reporters if he could hand it over to “the tourist minister of national security,” referring to former national security minister Marvin Gonzales, before blowing into the bag and adding, “…He only selling air.”