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alexk
Guest
More criminal gangs from the Beetham and Laventille are setting up in parts of Central Trinidad, including Couva and Freeport.
This was revealed at an emergency police town meeting at the office of Caroni East MP Tim Gopeesingh at Dyette Estate, Cunupia, on Wednesday. The meeting was called following a spike in criminal activity in St Helena and environs that resulted in a string of robberies taking place.
Central Division head Senior Sup Inraj Balram said it was during the interrogation of a “hardened criminal” on Wednesday that the police finally learned that gangs were coming in droves to central.
Balram said, “He (referring to the criminal under interrogation) explained the number of persons who came from Beetham, who came from Laventille, the calibre of the persons. He called some of the players, because I spend a number of years in Port-of-Spain, who are setting up base or are trying to set up base in Central, in places like I think is Couva, Freeport, it’s alarming.
“Today I heard from an informant that there is some parcel of land in Couva in which the criminal elements are trying to take over.”
Gopeesingh said the crime situation has gotten so bad in his constituency that he is now afraid to walk the streets of Caroni East.
Gopeesingh said, “I am fearful to walk to meet people in this constituency now. I am afraid of walking the streets as I am accustomed of walking the streets with my team. I am afraid of going into the side roads.”
He said a number of side roads are now filled with criminals and drug blocks and despite reports being made to the police little is being done. He said there was also a gang of thieves known as the “Tallman Gang” that was terrorising the community.
But Gopeesingh admitted crime is getting so bad T&T he is also afraid to stay at his Fairways, Maraval home, where he has resided for the last 43 years.
“I’m frightened, my colleagues are scared, I want relief for my constituents,” Gopeesingh said, noting that while police were concentrating on curbing crime in the nearby hotspot of Enterprise, Cunupia residents were worried that the criminals were moving into their area looking for “soft targets”.
He said he plans on taking up the issue of bringing in more resources to the Central Division with Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon and acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams.
Balram assured Cunupia was not being neglected and patrols were taking place with resources coming in from outside Central Division. He said an approved plan for the area was implemented.
“Just yesterday we had a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner and we formulated a further crime plan to target that area St Helena,” he said , adding part of the plan would see an increase in patrols there.
ASP Richard Smith said Enterprise was the area giving the most problems in Central Division. He said 2017 saw an escalation of criminal activities in Enterprise that included a rise in murders and as such police were taken from several stations in Central and posted to Enterprise. He said over 15,000 patrols were done since March 2017, around 900 persons were arrested and 75 firearms, 1000 rounds of ammunition and two hand grenades were seized.
Police also complained that the camera system installed by the Government at the St Helena Junction was inadequate. They said the rotating cameras in the junction tend to miss vital information when making a 360 degree turn. They said fixed cameras are instead needed to identify persons and vehicles involved in crime, adding they have to instead relied on camera footage from residents and businesses in the area.