THE United Nations has confirmed the presence of Venezuelan gangsters in Trinidad and Tobago, which CounterPunchTT recently revealed.
A scorching report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said criminals from the neighbouring South American country are involved in drug and human trafficking, and extortion.
The UNODC identified the presence of a gang from the Venezuelan state of Delta Amacuro, “where it controls part of the local criminal market at a key port.”
The group has embedded members with T&T gangs, the report stated.
And still there has been no response from National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds or counter-action from the authorities.
This news site recently reported that criminals of Venezuela’s most notorious gang Tren de Aragua have carried out various deadly crimes in T&T.
The Government was officially advised two years ago about the gang’s presence, CounterPunchTT reported.
The UN study confirmed that criminals are entering through such coastal areas as Icacos, Cedros and Moruga, and conducting “extensive trafficking of drugs, guns and migrants.”
Although there have been some drug seizures, the authorities “significantly underestimate the extent of drug transshipment and trafficking in Trinidad and Tobago.”
The drug economy in T&T is “thriving,” the UNODC said, and handguns and assault rifles are exchanged for food.
The agency said that T&T has the highest per capita number of Venezuelan migrants in the world.
The figure was estimated to be “at least 60,000.”
There are 186 or more criminal gangs in T&T, with some 1,700 members, the report said.
“The country’s dominant gangs and gang federations reportedly face growing competition from small street gangs along the East-West Corridor,” it was revealed.
Some gangs are “heavily involved” in the drugs and firearms trade and have diversified into human trafficking from Venezuela and contract killings.
Gangs are also involved in kidnapping, extortion, illegal quarrying, ATM fraud, and racketeering.
The number of gangsters is increasing, and most are between 19 and 25 years.
Violence among gangs is leading to a decline in the ages of their leadership, the UNODC study added.
Gangs are splintering and becoming more violent, the report said.
Public contracts are “widely recognised to feed organised crime.”
Arrests and prosecutions of high-level gang members are rare, the report said, “with low-level and rank and file often convicted instead.”
The police service is “overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge.”
In some cases, the police “need to request support from gang leadership to identify suspects, accumulate evidence, and undertake operations.”
There are also “high levels of police corruption.”
There is a fear in prosecuting gangsters, because “they know where police and their families live.”
A key challenge is “disrupting the entry of illegal and smuggled goods, including managing border controls and customs, and addressing corruption in state agencies that manage imports and exports.”
The UNODC revelations tie in with similar revelations from the United States Department of State and other international agencies.
At a meeting last February, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley about the findings of US anti-crime organisations.
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