A shocking plot to assassinate sitting Trinidad and Tobago Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath has prompted authorities to ramp up his personal protection, after a detained gang member confessed to police that a former government minister offered him $250,000 to carry out the killing. The heightened security detail now includes specialized protection from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) Special Branch, a unit tasked with high-risk security assignments for public officials. The full details of the plot have emerged from a sworn statement given to investigators at the Carenage Police Station, dated December 4, 2025, by the suspect who is currently in police custody on unrelated criminal charges.
According to redacted excerpts of the statement obtained by the Sunday Express, the alleged plot was first set in motion in November 2025. The gang member told investigators he was searching for a high-paying job through a relative, who connected him to a former government minister that owned a local club in McBean. When the suspect approached the ex-minister asking about work, complaining that other connected figures were securing large government contracts, the former official offered him a far more dangerous opportunity: a $250,000 payment to eliminate Padarath, whom the ex-minister criticized as overly outspoken.
In the confession, the suspect quoted the former minister as saying he would provide all the logistical support needed for the attack, including firearms, vehicles, and detailed information on Padarath’s schedule and locations. The former minister also instructed the suspect to recruit additional accomplices and warned him to keep the plot completely secret. To solidify the agreement, the ex-minister reportedly handed the suspect an upfront payment of $3,000, calling it a “sweetener” to secure his cooperation and pressured him to complete the assassination as quickly as possible.
When questioned by investigators, the suspect confirmed he understood the phrase “get rid of” Padarath meant killing him, noting the former minister made a throat-slitting gesture to clarify his intent. The ex-minister also described Padarath to the hitman as a talkative, slim Indo-Trinidadian government minister in the current UNC administration, adding that the minister “talks too much” and “had to go.”
The suspect told police he had never previously accepted a contract killing, though he admitted to carrying out smaller acts of violence for his relative, including assault, intimidation, and needle injection to threaten targets. He added that the relative connected him to the plot because he assumed the suspect had prior experience with violent criminal work. When told of the $250,000 payout, the suspect said he immediately thought the former minister must be insane, calling the offer to kill a sitting sitting government minister shocking even to him.
Beyond the assassination plot, the suspect also made additional allegations against the former minister, claiming the official runs a large criminal network that traffics cocaine from Colombia and smuggles firearms from both the United States and Colombia through the Port of Point Lisas, with ties to multiple gangs across Trinidad and Tobago. He also named another associate of the former minister who he says manages the drug and weapons smuggling operations.
The suspect explained he chose to confess to the plot while in custody because he feared for his life outside of detention. He claimed the criminal network has corrupt police officers on its payroll at multiple stations across the country, describing the operation as a well-organized “big organization” that would target him if he spoke publicly about the plot while free. As a result of the confirmed plot, authorities have moved quickly to expand Padarath’s security to neutralize the threat to the sitting minister’s life.