DOCUMENT REVEALS SSA’S BEST FOUGHT CRIME

THE Strategic Services Agency (SSA) helped to fight crime while under director Roger Best, a confidential document has revealed.

Under Best’s leadership, SSA worked “toward achieving the strategic objectives,” which included “wide-ranging organisational transformation,” according to the document.

Best, who was appointed in October 2019, led the agency in intelligence-gathering, investigative support, and operational coordination.

These activities prompted the arrests of several people over time for various crimes, including kidnappings, cocaine and narcotics possession, firearms, vehicle larceny, ammunition, and threats to life.

The organisation assisted in the recapture of escaped prisoners and in recovering stolen vehicles.

The SSA also forensically examined devices seized in prison and provided extensive intelligence reports, the document said.

The agency also facilitated “the country’s only mobile forensic extraction and analysis platform.”

Pieces of “actionable intelligence” were disseminated to law enforcement.

Intelligence reports, investigative action and evidential actions were among the identified successes.

The agency gave operational support at several national events, including Carnival.

The organisation also produced “a technically sound proposed CCTV camera location layer,” which “is now fully adopted and represents the new CCTV layout of the society.”

The document added: “This CCTV layout essentially created a ‘web’ across Trinidad and Tobago and considers the islands’ road network connectivity choke points and key transit points.”

Training was among several other SSA activities.\

The agency has been developing a cadre of national security personnel, in association with the National Security Training Academy, it was revealed.

Among the personnel trained were State and Municipal Police, Defence Force and fire officers.

The trained officers were certified.

The SSA hosted a counter-terrorism conference and produced 28 research proposals.

The document said that “enhanced cooperation” was established with some named national agencies and institutions.

The agency also developed liaisons with international stakeholders.

The proposed way forward was “to establish the SSA as a world-class intelligence agency.”

This was to be achieved by “contributing to the security of the nation while supporting the efforts and our regional and international counterparts in the area of geopolitical intelligence, cross-border crime, terrorism, cybercrime and money laundering.”

Several matters were identified for action.

They included improvements to intelligence products and services and strengthening and attracting new alliances and partnerships.

Best, a retired major, was fired in mid-May after being sent on leave on March 2.

Ambassador Brigadier General Anthony Phillips-Spencer, who replaced Best, carried out an audit, which led to a statement in Parliament by Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, in which he alleged there was a coup plot by certain SSA operatives.

Rowley claimed that, under Best, the agency bought high-grade military weapons.

He said there was “a cult which was arming itself while preaching a doctrine for trained military and paramilitary personnel with a religious calling to be the most suitable to replace the country’s political leadership.”

Best termed the allegations “preposterous” and “ludicrous.”

He said the Prime Minister’s statement was “filled with many degrees of disinformation to suit a particular narrative that was based on incorrect information.”

He termed the matter a witch-hunt.

Opposition parliamentarian Dr. Roodal Moonilal called for the audit to be made public.