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Tour guide boats are docked at Caroni Swamp Bird Sanctuary on December 12 one day after police reported the seizure of $171 in marijuana in the swamp. - Innis FrancisTWO major marijuana seizures within 24 hours, totalling 2.2 tonnes and valued at an estimated $227 million, are being hailed by top government and national security officials as life-saving successes and evidence that the controversial radar technology in Tobago is paying off.
On December 11, police and other law enforcement officers seized 1,560 kilogrammes of "creepy marijuana," valued at $171 million, at the Caroni Swamp.
Within hours, the officers also found and seized an additional 600 kilogrammes of marijuana with a street value of $56 million along the South Central Road, Point Fortin.
No one was arrested in either operation.
On December 12, Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers echoed his colleagues' sentiments. They credited the US-installed radar system at the ANR International Airport for helping the authorities to detect and seize the illegal drugs.
Sobers, who spoke to reporters after an event at Angostura Ltd in Laventille, said he and other Government members were "very happy" with the seizures which were carried out "with the use of the radar technology."
"We are very pleased that those national security apparatuses are working together cohesively with the TT Defence force and with assistance from the US," he said.
"I think it is a partnership that has never come to this level of fruition that we have been seeing in recent times. The success of it in such a short period is a testament to how strong the relationship is, and the equipment that they have provided to TT is working quite well."
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro also credited the radar for helping police seize marijuana in the Caroni Swamp, which Persad-Bissessar described as "a significant blow to criminal networks."
She made her statement when she addressed a Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) awards ceremony at Government Campus Plaza, Port of Spain on December 11.
Persad-Bissessar said, "Using the radar that we installed in Tobago. We were able today to drug bust $171 million worth of illegal drugs in TT."
She also disclosed that on December 11 she met with officials from the US Embassy.
The radar, an AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR system installed by US forces, has been at the centre of heated political debate amid ongoing geopolitical tensions between the US and Venezuela and the massive US military build-up in the Southern Caribbean.
Opposition figures have been calling for full transparency and even the removal of the radar, citing sovereignty concerns.
Asked whether the same radar was used to help find the large oil tanker Skipper, which US forces seized in international waters near Venezuela on December 10, Sobers declined to comment. He said it was a national security issue.
"If we go out telling everyone our trade secrets, not only would the civil citizens of TT be aware, but criminals might be aware of what we are doing to fight crime," Sobers said.
"Statistics demonstrate that the crime rate has been at an all-time low in the last decade plus, and I think the way in which we intend to roll out other ventures in collaboration with the US, you will see even further reduction in other elements of crime."
Sobers also commented on the Prime Minister's latest meeting with US officials.
"We meet with the US all the time. The PM wanted to have further discussion with respect to the charge with respect to some other forms of co-operation that would benefit TT, and I think in short order we will also be indicating to the public what those are all about," Sobers said.
"But always on our mind, we would want to advance certain goals, especially when it comes to our energy commodities within our country."
He also commented on the partial procurement of an OFAC licence for the Dragon gas field with the US.
Sobers reported that TT is "extremely close" to securing an OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) licence for the Manakin/Cocuina fields involving bpTT.
"And we have other discussions ongoing with the US with other initiatives apart from national security that would also benefit TT," he added.
Regarding the Dragon gas field operated by Shell, the minister said discussions with Venezuela and the exploration of that field have "a particular arrangement in place."
He highlighted that when dealing with oil and gas matters, they are bound by NDAs and that not everything discussed would be shared with the media.
"Suffice it to say, the government, in collaboration with Shell and the US and Venezuela, is on top of the issue. I don't think that any type of rhetoric to and fro by anyone has hampered our commercial arrangements moving forward," Sobers said.
"We have always kept that to the forefront of our minds, and it has not dampened our resolve in ensuring that our energy commodity future of TT remains intact and develops rapidly under the administration."
The minister claimed that TT has no tensions with either the US or Venezuela, saying "we live as neighbours."
He cited frequent conversations with diplomats from both nations.
Sobers added, "We speak to our head of mission in Caracas on almost a daily basis on varying issues, and it is business as usual."
At a separate event, during the launch of a Municipal Police Post in Port of Spain on December 12, the top cop addressed public concerns about the lack of arrests in the two latest drug busts.
Guevarro acknowledged that despite recovering two tonnes of marijuana within 24 hours, there is no suspect in custody.
But, he added that safety and strategic development remain top priority.
"And I would be very hard pressed to leave my officers in the bush to wait or in the swamp to wait for someone to come back and collect their 1.5 tonnes of marijuana when persons would have heard a boat going up there with the police," he said.
Investigations are ongoing in both cases.
with reporting by RYAN HAMILTON-DAVIS
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