There are elements of international organised crime focusing their attention on Trinidad and Tobago. This from Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley at a news conference at Whitehall, Port of Spain Friday morning after he returned to the country following his three-day working visit to the United States.
The PM held meetings with several key United States agencies including with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who have pledged assistance to ensure that this “bad situation” of crime in T&T is not worsened.
Dr. Rowley said: “We do have some problems here in Trinidad and Tobago which I will not burden you with today, but we do have some internal problems, and given the nature of our relationship with the United States, the resources of the FBI and the CIA are made available to us to deal with our own internal problems,” he said.
He added: “We are an open country in international trade, international contact and even outside our official entry points, what we have been discovering is that certain criminals are liking us, and these are not small-timers. I say no more on that,”
The Prime Minister also spoke to funding and cooperation programs in the fight against criminal elements, noting that the US government funds several security co-operation programmes in Trinidad and Tobago, in partnership with local law enforcement.
He said there is pledged assistance in policing strategies to boost crime fighting and citizens’ security: “Because we are now attracting elements of international organised crime, which is very concerning to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, so we are discussing this with the United States to get as much help as we can in ensuring that our bad situation is not worsened by these developments,”
Dr. Rowley indicated that hev will speak in more detail at a press conference on Tuesday.