Anti-drug enforcement officers have increased surveillance at Piarco International Airport, primarily monitoring people about to board flights to Canada...
News Source: Trinidad Guardian
This comes in the wake of statistics which show a drastic increase in the detection of narcotics leaving Trinidad en route to Toronto.
Police said there have been several incidents in which drugs were found hidden under the seats of aircraft bound for Toronto.
The drugs, they said, consist mainly of high-grade cocaine and prime-quality marijuana.
Recently, officers of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit put a number of Trinidadians under surveillance because the police suspect they may be drug mules operating from Trinidad to Canada.
Policemen from the Intelligence Unit said they have already obtained copies of flight patterns of some suspected people for the last six months. They said the documents include times, dates and destinations.
OCNU has also been collaborating with members of the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Two months ago, police recovered a large black plastic bag containing a number of large ?cocaine blocks? from the back of the airport.
Surveillance officers said information received was that the drug was due to be hidden in the cargo area of an aircraft bound for Toronto.
?It appeared for some reason or the other, the middlemen were unable to place the bag on board the plane at that particular time. They probably thought they would return for it and put on a later flight,? one officer said.
Lawmen also said another concern is a drastic increase in the detection of cocaine coming to Trinidad from Guyana.
Police said Guyana, like Trinidad, is a major Caribbean transhipment point.
One officer said, ?Guyana normally receives cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela. In most instances, the carriers would travel either to Barbados or to Trinidad with the narcotics, because the perception is that it is easier for the narcotic to be sent to its destination abroad.?
Police said statistics also showed a decrease in drugs being transported to the United States and Europe.
They have attributed this to increased security measures at ports of entry in the US.
?Normally, trends would show narcotics being sent both to the US and Canada, and the quantities would be more or less the same. But from the recoveries we have been making, it shows drug trends have been taking on a completely different pattern,? the officer said.
