A coordinated multi-agency manhunt is underway in Trinidad and Tobago after 14 immigration detainees staged a brazen escape from the Arima Immigration Detention Centre on Saturday afternoon, leaving eight Venezuelans still at large nearly 24 hours after the breakout. The coordinated escape attempt unfolded shortly before 4 p.m. local time, when a sentry detention officer spotted unusual smoke billowing from the facility’s male housing block. Following standard protocol, the sentry immediately alerted his on-duty supervisor, and the two officers entered the unit to assess the potential emergency.
Instead of finding an accidental fire, the two officers were ambushed by a large group of male detainees. The escapees overwhelmed the outnumbered officers, forced open a secured facility gate, and fled the detention compound. Investigative reports confirm the group escaped along the facility’s western corridor before exiting the main compound and scaling the southern perimeter fence to make their getaway. Facility staff triggered an emergency alarm immediately after the assault, prompting a rapid response from local law enforcement.
Within the first hour of the escape, four of the 14 detainees were taken back into custody. Two were caught mid-ascent while trying to climb the outer perimeter fence, and two more were arrested in open land just outside the facility’s boundary. By 6:40 a.m. on Sunday, a fifth escapee was apprehended following a joint operation led by ASP Rampallard of the police Air Support Unit and officers from the Northern North Task Force along the Eastern Main Road in Wallerfield, and was promptly returned to the detention centre. Official reports confirm a sixth escapee has also been recaptured, though no additional details on that arrest have been released to the public.
The eight men who remain at large are all Venezuelan nationals: Luis Brito, Jose Brito, Roimer Duran, Edison Monroy, Felix Espanol, Edison La Rosa, Everth Ramirez and Ernesto Jose Figuera Caicedo. All have been listed as active fugitives by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).
The large-scale search operation has been coordinated at the highest levels of local law enforcement, spearheaded by Deputy Commissioner of Police Suzette Martin, Assistant Commissioner of Police Vena Butler and Superintendent Steve McKenzie. Multiple units have been deployed to track down the escapees, including the Northern North Criminal Investigations Department, Northern North Task Force, officers from Pinto and Malabar Police Stations, detention centre staff, the Air Support Unit, Inter-Agency Task Force, police Canine Unit, Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service K-9 Unit, the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, Special Investigations Unit, and the Guard and Emergency Branch. The search operation is being supervised on the ground by ASP Balewa, ASP Rampallard, Inspector Mascall and Woman Inspector Ramai.
Investigators have already collected physical evidence from the scene of the escape: WPC DeGraff photographed and secured multiple items of evidential value that will be used to build the case against the escapees and any accomplices that may have assisted the breakout. In an official public warning, the TTPS emphasized that the eight remaining fugitives are unlawfully at large, and any member of the public who knowingly provides shelter, transportation, or any other form of assistance to the men could face arrest and prosecution for aiding fugitives. Police have urged anyone with credible information on the whereabouts of the escapees to contact TTPS emergency services or the closest local police station immediately to share tips.