TROUBLING QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT $234 M DRUG BUST

THE recent seizure of 168 kilos of cocaine worth $234 million was “no small fry operation,” the Express newspaper commented.

We don’t need the media to remind us that drug trafficking is a well-oiled lucrative trade of protected big-pappies.

The Express noted the “police failure to penetrate the layers of protection between the small fry at the bottom of drug empires and the kingpins ruling at the top.”

After the bust, three lowly figures were arrested, and a single shotgun was seized.

No one believes that a massive drug smuggling racket is the activity of struggling small-timers.

The Express (it is the only commentary I’ve seen on the seizure) correctly tells of “scepticism” and that “the public mood has turned cynical” because the big fish is never held.

In an interesting turn of events, United States Ambassador Candace Bond broke convention and touted the role of American agencies in “the largest seizure of drugs during an on-land operation in Trinbagonian history.”

Ms. Bond said the action is “tangible evidence that the US Embassy is delivering for the people of Trinidad and Tobago and…the people of the United States.”

The envoy has had a forceful presence since she moved into Marli Street earlier this year, and maybe she wanted to “big up” the US Drug Enforcement Agency and Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.

Or, maybe there is more in the mortar than the pestle.

Could it be an effort to nudge the T&T authorities to effectively confront the endemic trans-shipment operation?

She must have heard the “lacouray” (check the meaning with a Trini friend, Ms. Bond) that drug overlords have subverted the authorities, even bankrolling heavy-rollers and institutions.

A recent report by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs again pointed to T&T’s “porous borders and direct transportation routes to Europe, the United States, and Canada.”

T&T is “a prime location for narcotics trans-shipment,” the report observed.

Yet, the drug busts are few and far between, and the honchos are never – never! – ever held, handcuffed, and brought to justice.

Ms. Bond noted “the strength of what we can achieve” through collaboration.

She was being diplomatic since the seizure of the 168 kilos of cocaine was essentially the handiwork of the American agencies that she heralded.

What, therefore, do local anti-narcotics police operatives do?

Why aren’t there more seizures and arrests, especially since drug trafficking is said to be linked to the dreadful gun trade?

Do the local police bosses have intelligence-gathering and surveillance equipment?

Would Trinidad and Tobago ever see the arrests of local drug czars?

Troubling questions…