Against the backdrop of a recent spike in disruptive bomb threats across Trinidad and Tobago, former national security minister Gary Griffith has launched a bold push for sweeping legal and operational reforms to how the country addresses these incidents. In an exclusive interview with local outlet the Express on Wednesday, Griffith argued that treating these cases solely as routine police work misses their far-reaching implications for national stability, calling for a whole-of-government response that draws on the country’s full intelligence and security infrastructure.
Griffith pointed out that repeated bomb threats, particularly those involving claims of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), do more than just disrupt daily life—they are often intended to sow widespread public panic and erode confidence in state institutions. He questioned whether current legislative frameworks are robust enough to hold perpetrators accountable for the far-reaching harm they cause, and called for a nuanced legal distinction between isolated, frivolous threats and coordinated acts designed to destabilize the nation.
Under Griffith’s proposal, cases that meet criteria for intentional destabilization should be prosecuted under existing terrorism legislation, carrying the possibility of life imprisonment for convicted offenders. He also noted that where evidence links organized criminal groups to coordinated threat campaigns, the country’s anti-gang laws should also be deployed to pursue maximum penalties. The former minister stressed that these harsher sanctions are not just punitive—they are a necessary deterrent for actors seeking to undermine national order.
Beyond legislative changes, Griffith criticized the current response model that leaves primary responsibility for investigations with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), arguing that this siloed approach is outdated and ineffective. He recalled that the National Operations Centre (NOC), an agency launched during his tenure as national security minister following official recommendations from the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 attempted coup, was specifically built to fix this gap in coordination. The NOC was designed to bring together personnel from the Strategic Services Agency (SSA), the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, and multiple divisions of the TTPS to streamline information sharing and joint operations for national security threats.
“This is a matter that demands joint collaboration across all arms of the country’s intelligence community, not just a single agency,” Griffith emphasized. He pushed back against public narratives that reduce the bomb threat wave to a routine policing issue with imminent arrests promised, calling that framing a backward approach that ignores the potential for coordinated subversion. “It is only in a backward country that you’re hearing there’s bomb threats, and it’s a police matter, and the police investigating,” he said.
Griffith clarified that his criticism of the current response structure does not reflect a lack of confidence in the country’s security personnel. He expressed unwavering optimism that perpetrators will eventually be identified and brought before the courts, grounding that confidence in the extensive training and advanced capabilities of personnel across all protective service branches, not just the TTPS. “I am very confident that this matter would be dealt with, and those persons will be brought to justice,” he said.
In closing, Griffith repeated his call for urgent review and amendment of national security legislation to close gaps that allow those who cause mass disruption and panic to face disproportionately lenient consequences. He reiterated that threats deliberately crafted to destabilize the nation and spark political upheaval deserve the same severe penalties as other acts of terrorism, arguing that this alignment of law and policy is critical to protecting public safety and national security moving forward.