T&T SHARES INTEL WITH US & CHINA SAYS GOV'T

CCNTV6

The National Security Minister says he is not aware of any of Trinidad and Tobago's international intelligence sharing partners have expressed any particular concerns about the recent developments within the Strategic Service Agencies.,  And the Minister says those international partners include the U.S. and China.  The National Security Minister also revealed that where regional intelligence sharing is concerned, CARICOM's Gang Intelligence Unit is in operation in this country's capital.  Juhel Browne reports.

Transcript

00:00National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hines was a featured speaker during the

00:04opening ceremony of day one of the three-day workshop titled Towards a

00:09Regional Approach to a Migration Policy in the Caribbean at the Trinidad Hilton

00:13Hotel. The International Organization for Migration is providing support for the

00:17workshop which is being hosted by the CARICOM Secretariat and the CARICOM

00:21Implementation Agency for Crime and Security. TV6 News spoke with the

00:26National Security Minister about a particular issue in dealing with

00:29migration and that issue being the sharing of intelligence between Trinidad

00:35and Tobago and its regional and international partners. Just last week

00:40Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley told the Parliament that an ongoing audit of

00:44Trinidad and Tobago's Strategic Services Agency the SSA has so far revealed there

00:50had been a plot by some who had been with that intelligence-gathering agency

00:54to replace the political leadership, a matter which has been described as a

00:58distraction by the government's political opponents. With the issue of

01:02migration in particular as you try of course the government state to deal with

01:07the issue of legal guns, ammunition, of those who as you said may be coming here

01:12to Trinidad and Tobago not in the best interest of Trinidad and Tobago, how is that

01:16working now as you deal with the issue overall of the SSA or intelligence

01:22gathering in general? You're quite right, intelligence is a very critical, it's the

01:27lifeblood of law enforcement, they have to know and therefore we in Trinidad and

01:32Tobago we have a number of operators in the sphere of intelligence and the

01:37premier agency in that regard is the SSA. Minister Hines has said the SSA is

01:41being quote fixed as we go along unquote under the leadership of its present

01:46director who he said is a very able servant of Trinidad and Tobago. The SSA

01:52is still able to conduct its core business of gathering intelligence and

01:58as Minister of National Security I affirm that it does. I receive daily

02:03reports and you know the normal things so the thing is happening that's in

02:09addition to the other intelligence gathering elements within the police

02:13service, the defense force and what have you in Trinidad and Tobago. The National

02:18Security Minister spoke about Trinidad and Tobago's international partners

02:21where intelligence sharing is concerned. We of course have relationships with

02:27other countries of the world, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, you

02:33follow? China, we have relations with all and therefore we in the normal course of

02:40events share information, share intelligence. The drugs that come in

02:45here, the guns that come in here, a lot of the techniques, a lot of the movement of

02:51people, it's very you know particularly in the business of money laundering and

02:56terrorist financing it does have transnational elements to it and

03:01therefore transnational responses are absolutely necessary. As you mentioned

03:06your international partners, have those international partners in terms of

03:10law enforcement and intelligence expressed any particular concerns about

03:15the recent developments concerning the SSE in particular? Not that I'm aware of.

03:22And where regional intelligence sharing is concerned, a unit many may not be

03:29aware of. Recently we established the CARICOM gang intelligence unit and now

03:38we have professionals, they're based here in Port of Spain, regional

03:42representatives working together, linking with their respective databases and

03:50intelligence gatherers in the respective islands, gathered together, sharing

03:55intelligence and I visited with them recently and I give you the assurance

03:59that they are on the job. Minister Hines said the CARICOM gang intelligence unit

04:03has had successes. Jule Brown, TV6 News.

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