PRIME Minister Dr. Keith Rowley was informed months ago that notorious Venezuelan gangs were carrying out horrible crimes in Trinidad and Tobago.
Rowley was advised by the United States Department of State last February and by a United Nations agency three months ago.
No action was taken, and murderous Venezuelan criminals have since become even more entrenched in Trinidad and Tobago.
The increase in crimes by Venezuelans in T&T led to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s call for the deportation of convicts.
Ms. Persad-Bissessar’s statement prompted hysterics from certain commentators and the daily media.
Venezuelan gangs – especially the brutal Tren de Aragua and Evander groups – have migrated to T&T and are linked to at least two major urban criminal groups.
At a meeting in Washington, Rowley and other senior government officials were provided with relevant details, along with offers of support from US agencies.
A subsequent UN report said Venezuelan criminals were involved in the smuggling of drugs and guns in T&T, along with extortions, kidnappings, and human trafficking.
The report said the cocaine transshipment trade was still “thriving” and that the gangsters used high-powered assault rifles.
Again, the Rowley administration made no effort to close the wide-open borders or to conduct surveillance and intelligence-gathering.
There were no crackdowns on the identified local criminal networks.
In 2020, a Caricom report compiled by an expert said Venezuelan gangsters had infiltrated T&T and were part of the domestic criminal landscape carrying out major hits, including extortions.
The Strategic Services Agency (SSA) also prepared an intelligence dossier, detailing underworld activities by the Evande gang and other criminals.
Their manner of operation was explained, along with the criminals’ extensive use of AK-47s and other weapons.
The Venezuelans were portrayed as vicious, heartless and audacious.
“They are not afraid to die,” one criminologist has said.
“Their involvement with locals has made the domestic gangsters more daring and better equipped,” he said
As far back as 2017, an official of the then-Donald Trump administration said there were terrorist activities and money laundering in T&T that were linked to Latin America.
The official said the US was prepared to collaborate to build security capacity.
Other reputable international agencies, along with media organisations, have reported on the Venezuelan criminal ties to T&T and their impact on domestic gangs.
In addition to the organised crime, some illegal migrants from the nearby country have committed crimes in T&T.
While most Venezuelan migrants are law-abiding and seeking to rebuild their lives away from President Nicholas Maduro’s repression, some have broken the law.
Ms. Persad-Bissessar spoke out of the Venezuelan impact on local security, but this prompted heated reactions from critics who branded her as xenophobic.
Rowley and his National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds have never publicly acknowledged the Venezuelan links to T&T’s crime crisis.
Hinds blasted Persad-Bissessar’s statement and did not address the extent of crimes committed by mobs from the country just six miles away.
While the emergency remains neglected, violent Venezuelans are using T&T as their criminal playground.
