A new state of emergency has been declared in Trinidad and Tobago after authorities accused a criminal network of plotting to kill government officials and attack public institutions.
Police said they had intelligence that phones smuggled into prisons allowed those involved in the plot to plan to target senior police officers, members of the judiciary and employees at the state prosecution office.
At a press conference on Friday, police commissioner Allister Guevarro said: “They were planning, actively so, to carry out assassinations, robberies, and kidnappings.”
He said the intelligence report prompted him to recommend that newly elected Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declare the emergency. He noted there were no particular threats to any politicians.
It’s the second state of emergency declared in Trinidad and Tobago in a year – authorities cited concerns about gang violence in that declaration, which lasted from December to April.
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Under a state of emergency, police can conduct searches and make arrests without a warrant. A curfew has not been put into effect.
Mr Guevarro said gang leaders who were housed in a maximum-security prison in east Trinidad have been relocated to an unidentified facility.
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“We have seen recent acts of kidnapping and homicides being perpetrated against our citizenry that we have been able to trace back to this organised crime syndicate,” he said.
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According to police data, Trinidad and Tobago, with a population of more than 1.4 million, recorded 624 killings last year, its deadliest on record.
As of Thursday, police said the number of killings this year stood at 214 – a decline from 325 in the same period last year.
