The four T&T Defence Force members who were detained by the T&T Police Service (TTPS) Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) on Wednesday in connection with the Drugs Sou Sou (DSS) raid investigation were all released hours after their detention and questioning pending further investigations.
The soldiers were detained for questioning into the incident in which video footage showed one of them allegedly stuffing money into his tactical uniform during the raid on the DSS headquarters in La Horquetta last week Tuesday.
Senior investigators told Guardian Media that the four soldiers - a sergeant, 39, two lance corporals, 30 and 31 and corporal, 29 -, all gave statements surrounding the DSS raid. Soldiers were part of the raid, which was co-ordinated by the Special Operations Response Team (SORT).
Shortly after 7 pm on Wednesday, the soldiers were allowed to leave the facility where they were being questioned and return to Teteron Barracks, Chaguaramas.
Investigators told Guardian Media that they will now be awaiting instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on how to proceed with the case.
At yesterday’s T&T Police Service media briefing, Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith admitted there may be challenges in laying charges against the solider/s caught in the video.
A senior police source told Guardian Media on Wednesday that there was no report about money being stolen made by anyone in the house at the time of the raid.
The source said,”If we have no victim, then there’s no crime.”
Griffith yesterday admitted that a formal report from the victim is important to laying charges.
Over the past few days, the Guardian has exclusively reported about the alleged involvement of police officers and the T&T Defence Force members not only providing protection for DSS operations but co-opting others to retrieve the seized money, now purported to be as much as $92 million and not $22 million initially reported by the police and move it to a safe house. The movements and the phone conversations of these officers are now all under investigation.