Security breach at Staubles Bay, high-risk inmates moved back to Teteron

Coast Guard vessels at Staubles Bay base in Chaguaramas on June 11. - File photo

A security breach has forced authorities to shuffle some high-risk inmates yet again – this time back to the army’s Teteron Barracks, Chaguaramas.

Newsday understands some inmates, all classified as high-risk and accused of plotting murders, kidnappings and gang wars from behind bars, were yanked out of Staubles Bay, on August 21, after it was uncovered that contraband – a cellphone and charger – was inside the coast guard’s headquarters.

The prisoners were originally removed from Building 13 at the Maximum Security Prison, Arouca, on July 18, the very day a state of emergency was declared after intelligence exposed a deadly conspiracy to assassinate police, prison officers and even members of the judiciary.

The men were shifted three weeks later from Teteron to Staubles Bay until this latest breach.

Both military bases were declared official prisons under Legal Notice No 250, giving the army legal authority to cage the men under the Prisons Act.

Now back inside Teteron, the inmates are in a location so sealed off that not even a cellphone signal can escape.

A similar breach took place weeks ago involving an attempt to smuggle cellphones to the army base.

This led to amendments to the scope of the emergency powers regulations being widened to include a broader range of prohibited items, introduce new legal definitions and specifically target the smuggling of contraband into prisons.

It is now an offence to possess any prohibited article if there is reasonable suspicion it has been in a prison, is intended for a prisoner or is meant to be smuggled into a prison by any means.

So far, 33 detention orders have been gazetted for alleged gang leaders and members.

A tribunal set up to receive requests from detainees for a review of their detention has so far received one application.

Newsday also understands a police corporal assigned to the North Eastern Division was detained on August 20 on allegations of gang involvement and narcotics trafficking.

The officer was held during an operation by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the Port of Spain Division and taken to the Besson Street Police Station.

He was later moved by SIU officials for questioning.

According to sources, the corporal is accused of acting as a gang leader, issuing instructions to members to seize and distribute narcotics, among other activities.

National security sources also indicated he was held under a preventive detention order, although no such order had been published in the Gazette on August 21.

The corporal previously served in the South Western Division, where he was the subject of longstanding allegations of illicit activity, including alleged trips to Venezuela to procure illegal items.

While police had intelligence reports, they reportedly lacked sufficient evidence.

He was asked to take a polygraph test, which he refused, and was later transferred to Barataria in 2021.

The transfer was intended to curb his alleged activities, but intelligence suggested they continued.

As of August 21, the corporal's location was unknown. Sources described his conduct as undermining the integrity of the police service.

Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro did not respond to questions on the officer's detention or the other detainees.

Since the SoE was declared on July 18, Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander has signed more than 30 preventive detention orders against alleged gang leaders, enforcers and facilitators across TT, citing a growing national security threat from organised criminal groups.

The detention orders, published in the legal notices between July 26 and August 15, target members of rival gangs including the Resistance Gang, the Seven Gang and its RC7 and St Barbs factions, the Railway Road Badness Gang, and the Gonzales faction of Rasta City 7.

The orders also identified two as key facilitators of gang activity, one of whom was said to be the second-in-command of the Resistance Gang.

The two women were singled out in the minister’s detention orders, described as a "love interest" of a gang leader.

They were accused of organising kidnappings, arming younger gang recruits, smuggling narcotics and devices into prison facilities, and arranging a coalition of gangs to execute police, prison officers and judicial officials. It was also alleged one of the women co-ordinated finances, weapons distribution and meetings between rival gangs.

Officials say their arrests were "critical" to disrupting imminent attacks.

Among the most threats identified were plots to assassinate public officials, reprisal killings linked to ongoing gang wars, and the use of high-powered rifles in public spaces.

Several detainees were identified as shooters or co-ordinators of recent homicides, including the killing of suspected gang members and others in July.

The documents also reveal conspiracies to kill civilians, including a planned assassination of a woman, allegedly to be executed in broad daylight in a public space, and threats to business figures and a doubles vendor for kidnapping and ransom.

Alexander’s orders noted that even incarcerated gang leaders remain active threats.

Two men already imprisoned were placed under fresh detention orders after intelligence revealed they continued to direct killings and kidnappings from within prison walls, communicating with lieutenants and using family members and associates as intermediaries.

One detainee openly confessed during a police interview to arming his followers, plotting kidnappings against the business community and vowing to kill state officials.

Intelligence also identified his role in ongoing gang warfare between the Resistance and Seven gangs, which has fuelled a sharp increase in public shootings since April.

Detention orders also targeted members of the Railway Road Baddness Gang, described as a sophisticated organised crime group involved in drug trafficking, firearms procurement, money laundering and violent territorial expansion. Several of its lieutenants, scouts and firearms handlers were detained, including one tasked with circulating AR-15 rifles across territories.

In Bagatelle and Diego Martin, a separate cluster of gang operatives were held under orders linking them to a wave of violent armed robberies and assaults on business owners.

Another set of detention orders focused on the Seven-11 casino robbery in Port of Spain in July.

Several suspects were arrested during or shortly after the attack, including men armed with loaded firearms and communication devices.

Intelligence linked them to a wider cell planning co-ordinated robberies.

The detention orders, issued under the Emergency Powers Regulations, 2025, rely on intelligence reports, sworn statements, informant testimony, and in some cases, confessions.

The minister argued that preventive detention was "necessary to disrupt imminent acts of violence" and to protect the public, given the escalation of gang warfare.

By August 15, at least 33 detention orders had been issued.