00:00The warning came from Assistant Commissioner of Police Richard Smith during a media briefing at the Police Administration Building in
00:06Port of Spain.
00:07Smith said victims are being contacted and told that a hit has been placed on their lives before being asked
00:14to pay large sums of money to prevent the supposed attack.
00:18One of the trends that we are seeing as it relates to demanding money by menace or extortion,
00:23and some of the reports that we have been receiving is the fact that persons are calling the victims and
00:28telling them that they have information or they were hired to kill the victim.
00:32Now the victim being in fear would then say, OK, what can I do?
00:37That person, the perpetrator, will now say, I will take $40,000 not to kill you.
00:42He said criminals would go even further and demand an additional $20,000 to get rid of the supposed original
00:49threat.
00:49In that way now, if you pay that money and you pay the counter money, they then have a hold
00:54on you for further blackmail and extortion.
00:57So I want members of the public to be aware of that.
00:59Smith said criminals are also exploiting personal information to pressure victims into handing over money.
01:06He warned that details shared on social media or even with close associates can sometimes be used by offenders to
01:14build extortion schemes.
01:16So you must be careful as to what we are doing.
01:19As it relates to our business and what we are sharing with members of the public and even persons close
01:24to us because it's your friends who know your business.
01:27Despite the emergence of new tactics, police say there has been a reduction in reports of extortion so far this
01:34year.
01:35According to Smith, there were 40 reports of demanding money by menace between January 1st and March 9th last year.
01:42For the same period in 2026, there have been 18 reports.
01:47We had 40 reports of demanding money by menace, which is the correct term for extortion.
01:54And in 2026, we have 18 reports, which is a 55% reduction in this category of crime.
02:02We also have a 67% detection rate in 2026 because 12 of the 18 reports have been detected by
02:10these officers as compared to 55% detection rate in 2025, where 22 out of these 40 crimes were detected.
02:19Police say the North Central Division has recorded the highest number of reports so far this year with nine incidents.
02:27The North Eastern Division and the Western Division each accounted for three reports, while Central Division recorded two.
02:35No reports were recorded during the period in the Eastern, Southern Tobago or Port of Spain divisions.
02:41Smith also said investigators attached to the anti-extortion unit have also been able to detect other offenses arising from
02:50extortion cases.
02:51In some situations where victims handed over money out of fear, he said the circumstances also constituted robbery.
02:59Police recorded five such robbery reports and all were detected.
03:03Two additional matters involving suspects being found in possession of firearms and ammunition were also detected.
03:11The senior officer also provided an update on the work of the newly formed home invasion team, which was established
03:17after the home invasion legislation was reclaimed earlier this year.
03:22Since January 20th, police have recorded 28 reports of home invasions, with eight of those cases solved.
03:31Alexander Brusewell, TV6 News.
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