00:00The seizure of over $102 million worth of cannabis in the Central Division has investigators probing what they believe may
00:08be a South American-based criminal network, along with the possible involvement of several local businesses suspected of laundering money
00:16to facilitate payments to drug cartels in U.S. currency.
00:19A senior police officer speaking on the condition of strict anonymity told TV6 News that drug cartels have to be
00:24paid in U.S. and based on the information they have gathered, local drug traffickers who don't have access to
00:30U.S. are getting assistance from local businesses to access that U.S. currency to pay their South American counterparts
00:37for the drugs.
00:38These local businesses get a 10% commission from the local drug traffickers for facilitating the transaction.
00:44Last Friday, several units of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, acting on intelligence, went to Riverside Marina, Kakande Road
00:51for the city around 2 p.m., where officers spotted a white Kia K-2700 vehicle that was parked between
00:58two moored vessels.
00:59Police and the media released on Saturday last said the tray of the vehicle had been covered with a blue
01:04tarpaulin.
01:04When the vehicle was searched, police found 937.66 kilograms of high-grade Colombian cannabis, with an estimated street value
01:13of $102,942,000.
01:16One suspect, aged 36 from the Freeport area, was detained by police for questioning.
01:21Another police source familiar with the investigation said that while the matter was at a sensitive stage, they were working
01:27on determining the intended destination of the shipment and identifying all the players involved in this drug trafficking operation.
01:34The operation was spearheaded by ACP Anthony Remy, coordinated by Senior Superintendent Police, Rudolf Bangwandin, and supervised by ASP Mark
01:42Hernandez.
01:43Mark Basant, TV6 News.
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