Police believe they have made a significant dent in the operations of an organised criminal group, having destroyed over $10 million worth of marijuana yesterday, during an anti-gang operation in the Sangre Grande area.
A release from the Police Service explains that the exercise is the result of several leads into the operations of an organised criminal group whose main operations are based in the Belmont district.
The TTPS says the operation involved multiple units—the Eastern Division Gang and Intelligence Unit (EDGIU) and the Eastern Division Task Force, in collaboration with the Region Two Gang Unit and the Air Support Unit.
According to the TTPS, on Wednesday (April 17, 2024), the officers journeyed three miles into a forested area of the Upper Cunapo Road, Sangre Grande, where they located two camps outfitted with solar panels, equipped with water tanks and air condition units, among other amenities.
Police later seized and destroyed some 111 kilogrammes of cured marijuana with an estimated street value of $3,333,341.
The law enforcement team also destroyed 2,550 marijuana plants with a combined weight of 255 kilogrammes of local marijuana, which have an estimated street value of $7,632,405. The local marijuana was eradicated on three acres of forested lands.
Two grow houses equipped with solar panels and air conditioning units were also located and destroyed as part of the operation.
The grand total of the operation is an estimated $10,965,746.
Police operations in Eastern Division ongoing
The TTPS reports that during an operation on March 14 this year, police officers located another campsite in a forested area of the Upper Cunapo Road, Sangre Grande.
There, they destroyed 500 fully grown marijuana trees, as well as an estimated 400 marijuana seedlings, and burnt 10 kilogrammes of cured marijuana, thereby closing up the entire camp.
According to police, the estimated street value of the 500 fully grown local hydro marijuana trees, 400 local hydro marijuana and 10 kilogrammes of cured local hydro marijuana amounted to $6,597,170.
In the recent past, officers of the Eastern Division also arrested and charged a 21-year-old man in a seizure of 36 packets of marijuana, which weighed 24.8 kilogrammes. The arrest came following a high-speed chase in the Sangre Grande district.
The TTPS also notes that on February 13, 2024, two men were charged by the EDGIU after a surveillance exercise at a campsite some 12 kilometres into a forested area of Romain Trace, Guaico, Tamana.
During their investigations, police caught the two men tending to a marijuana field with approximately 1,024 full-grown marijuana trees and an estimated 1,000 seedlings on about four acres of land, which had an estimated street value of $3,283,203.
On that occasion, police also discovered and seized a Draco Rifle fitted with a laser, along with seven rounds of 7.62 ammunition during that exercise.
“The Eastern Division continues to implement anti-gang and crime suppression initiatives to further reduce serious reported crimes, which are inextricably linked to the illegal drug and firearm trade that are negatively impacting several of the rural and unplanned communities under its care,” the release said.
It added: “These measures are also being supported by the softer approach of policing where its Community-Oriented Policing Officers are working with psychosocial support agencies and community stakeholders to provide an alternative, sustainable life to young people confronted by the gang culture and influence in these communities.”
The Police Service is encouraging the public to continue providing actionable information on gangs, drug pushing and firearms via its Anti-Crime Hotline 555, 736-TTPS or CRIME STOPPERS at 800-TIPS.