Senior Reporter
anna-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) says it will double down on crime-fighting efforts in 2026.
Speaking with Guardian Media at the St Augustine South Community Centre yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and head of the Extortion Unit, Richard Smith, said while there continue to be kidnappings for ransom, the police are working overtime to solve outstanding matters.
Chief among them was the investigation into the kidnapping of Derrick and Clarabelle Tardieu from their home on Monos Island on December 13, 2025.
Although Derrick Tardieu, 70, was released by the kidnappers on December 17 – after an almost $200,000 ransom comprised of both US and TT currency was paid by relatives – his 47-year-old wife remains missing.
Smith said, “At this stage, it is still quite sensitive because we still do not have Clarabelle.”
Despite this, Smith said the TTPS will not be daunted in their efforts to bring her home and prevent, where possible, further instances of this type of crime.
He provided a general update, “We have been successful in some of these kidnappings, in that we had the hostages released. We had some people who were arrested and charged, and other people, who, due to certain things they did, they are somewhere else.”
Smith also repeated an appeal for people to be mindful of exposing too much on social media, thereby making themselves a target for criminals.
“We are asking people to be sensible about what you are doing, what you are advertising to members of the public because people tend to pick up on when you do social media posts and all these things, so I am advising people to be careful about what they are posting and how they are sharing their information as it relates to their personal information.”
Reinforcing the commitment by the TTPS to keep the crime rate down, Deputy Police Commissioner (DCP) of Operations, Suzette Martin, said, “Our officers are on the ground, and we would be enforcing the laws.”
Asked what would happen when the State of Emergency (SoE) comes to an end on February 1, as any further extension will now require Opposition support, Martin said, “We enforce laws that are handed down to us, and if we have an SoE, we can only deal with what is required of us as the TTPS.”
She added, “So, at this time, I cannot say what will be next step, but I think that the people who put the laws in place, that’s the Government, will be able to say later on. But for now, we are enforcing the SoE, and we are doing our preventative detention orders.”
