Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has issued a stark public warning to the country’s wealthy drug trafficking networks, signaling that her administration will not ease its aggressive anti-crime push even after the expiration of the national state of emergency (SoE) on September 17.
In an official statement released via social media, the Prime Minister outlined a clear, uncompromising stance against organized criminal groups, specifically calling out drug gangs operating out of the upscale West Trinidad neighborhoods of Westmoorings, St Clair and Federation Park. She slammed these networks as “filthy, greedy” for flooding the twin-island nation with illegal narcotics and unregistered firearms that fuel violent crime and harm local communities.
Persad-Bissessar made clear that the end of emergency powers would not bring a halt to the government’s law enforcement campaign. She emphasized that criminals, their backers and their family members will still face harsh consequences for any ongoing criminal activity, noting that holding cells at the Teteron and Maximum Security Prison (MSP) remain ready for anyone who continues to terrorize law-abiding residents. “Negotiating with or placating criminals only emboldens them to continue their criminal activities,” she stressed.
As part of her commitment to transparency and public accountability, the Prime Minister declassified previously confidential law enforcement data submitted to the National Security Council, which outlines the results of the six-month state of emergency. The data shows that the operation has been “highly successful”: authorities arrested 5,802 people across the country, with 3,552 of those arrested – 61.2 percent of the total – facing formal criminal charges. Persad-Bissessar confirmed that the six-month period saw the “primary threat” of organized crime reduced, with crime rates dropping in every single police division across Trinidad and Tobago.
The Prime Minister used the address to critique decades-long trends that she said eroded public safety in the nation. She argued that over the past 30 years, Trinidad and Tobago slid from a peaceful society to what she called a “lawless dump,” a shift driven in part by a widely perceived two-tiered justice system. Under that unequal system, she explained, ordinary citizens face the full force of the law, while what she termed “eat-a-food fake elite and politically connected” actors get special treatment and avoid consequences for criminal activity. “I am working to bring those days to an end. Everyone must now bear personal responsibility for their individual behaviour,” she said.
To target high-level criminal networks that believe their wealth and influence put them beyond legal reach, Persad-Bissessar confirmed her administration is coordinating closely with foreign law enforcement agencies to dismantle local drug trafficking operations. This collaborative effort will ensure that even wealthy mafia figures face the same prosecution procedures as any other person accused of breaking the law, she said. The Prime Minister stressed that gangs from wealthy West Trinidad neighborhoods will not receive preferential treatment, and will face the same legal consequences as long-recognized street gangs from areas including Siparia, Arima and Laventille.
This public warning is consistent with Persad-Bissessar’s ongoing campaign to root out white-collar facilitation of organized crime, not just low-level street gang activity. Back in June, she backed a similar warning from Attorney General John Jeremie that the anti-crime push would target wealthy, influential figures suspected of profiting from drug trafficking and organized crime, not just traditional street-level groups. Reiterating the principle that “justice is blind,” the Prime Minister affirmed that the law applies equally to all citizens, no matter their net worth, social status, political connections or public influence.
Later that same month, Persad-Bissessar revealed that United States intelligence agencies had identified a network of local individuals, business owners and banking staff allegedly linked to large-scale money laundering and drug trafficking for international cartels, moving millions in U.S. currency out of the country. She confirmed at the time that U.S. authorities had already begun punitive action against these actors, including restricting their access to U.S. territory and American financial institutions. To strengthen domestic enforcement, the Prime Minister added that her government is bolstering the capacity of the Inland Revenue Division to increase regulatory scrutiny of white-collar criminals and businesses tied to drug trafficking, financial crime and gang activity.
Persad-Bissessar closed her statement by extending formal gratitude to all government officials and frontline personnel who supported the state of emergency operations, including the Attorney General, defense and security ministerial teams, police and prison leadership, and all rank-and-file protective service workers who worked extended shifts to keep the public safe. She also thanked law-abiding Trinidad and Tobago residents for their patience, support and willingness to cooperate with authorities during the emergency period, saying their backing was critical to the operation’s early success.