标签： Trinidad and Tobago

A weeks-long search for two-year-old Angelo Tobias Plaza, who vanished from his Goodwood, Tobago community in mid-May, has led law enforcement to take a third person into custody, as search teams expand their operation to a local landfill and officials work to counter harmful spread of misinformation on social media.

According to police sources familiar with the investigation, officers acted on new intelligence received Sunday to target two individuals in Goodwood. When authorities arrived at the scene, one man fled on foot and successfully evaded capture, while the second detainee – confirmed to be a relative of the missing toddler – was taken into police custody. Angelo’s 22-year-old mother and 25-year-old stepfather, who were first detained on Friday afternoon, remain in custody at separate stations as interrogations continue.

Senior Superintendent of Police Rodhil Kirk told local media outlets on Monday that new tips led search teams to expand their sweep to the Studley Park Landfill, where heavy equipment and specialized personnel are now conducting a thorough grid search. Kirk emphasized that law enforcement is committing all available resources to the case, and the search will not stop until the family and the entire island of Tobago get the closure they need. “We are being thorough with this investigation as I pointed out from the first day,” Kirk said. “As long as we have the strength we will continue to search.”

Kirk also used the high-profile case to issue a public call for greater community oversight of vulnerable children across Trinidad and Tobago. “It takes a village to raise a child, and we need to adopt that concept or go back to that concept that all of us look out for one another, especially the vulnerable children,” he added.

Angelo was first reported missing on the night of May 11, triggering a massive multi-agency search effort that has drawn in local police, fire and rescue teams, the Tobago Emergency Management Agency, the national Coast Guard, child protection investigators, and homicide detectives. Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander confirmed the coordinated multi-agency response during parliamentary remarks last week. Two volunteer search and rescue groups – Hunters Search and Rescue Teams (HSRT), led by both Vallence Rambharat and Shamsudeen Ayube – have also joined the operation, bringing additional manpower and specialized resources to the search.

Rambharat told reporters Sunday that with support from TEMA, the Tobago House of Assembly, and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), search teams have used an excavator to dig through targeted sections of the landfill, checking numerous pits for any sign of the toddler. Law enforcement has also deployed a specialized human remains detection (cadaver) dog to the site, a K-9 unit trained to identify the unique scent of human decomposition, capable of locating even tiny fragments of bone or blood buried deep under debris.

As the search entered its new phase at the landfill, false claims spread rapidly across social media platforms including WhatsApp and Facebook over the weekend claiming Angelo’s body had been recovered. Ayube, who leads the second HSRT contingent on the ground, moved quickly to debunk the rumors, confirming to reporters that as of 4 p.m. Sunday, Angelo remained listed as an active missing person.

Ayube explained that the false reports likely stemmed from a large police response to the discovery of a decomposing object at the landfill Sunday, which was later confirmed to be the remains of a dog, not a human child. He stressed that the unconfirmed social media posts cause unnecessary pain to Angelo’s family, who continue to hold out hope for the toddler’s safe return.

Currently, search efforts are concentrated on the Studley Park Landfill after investigators received intelligence that Ayube says is 90% likely to be credible. Early in the investigation, search teams focused on a stretch of coastline near where Angelo was last seen, following initial reports that he may have wandered into the ocean. But as the case progressed, Ayube said search teams found inconsistencies between that initial report and subsequent evidence gathered by investigators, including conflicting details provided to authorities by the child’s mother and stepfather. That led teams to shift their focus to the landfill.

The volunteer search organization has no plans to withdraw from the case, Ayube confirmed. “We have been known to have cases open for months or years, until a family gets closure,” he said, adding that the team’s core goal remains either returning Angelo safely to his family or securing the closure they need to move forward.

In a pre-dawn targeted crackdown on illegal activity in D’Abadie district, law enforcement officials have dismantled a secretive underground gambling operation, taking 21 individuals into custody and seizing thousands in cash along with untaxed alcohol, police announced in an official statement.

The four-hour intelligence-driven operation, carried out jointly by teams from the Inter-Agency Task Force and Maloney Police Station, unfolded between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 17. Acting on developed tips, officers moved on a registered local business in the area, launching a court-authorized search of the property.

What investigators uncovered during the search revealed the operation’s deliberate efforts to avoid detection: a hidden, walled-off room concealed within the building’s structure. When officers gained access to the secret space, they found multiple men gathered in the middle of unauthorized gambling sessions, according to police accounts.

In total, 21 people were taken into custody: the owner of the commercial property and 20 male participants found on site. The premises owner is slated to face two formal charges: operating an illegal common gambling house and selling intoxicating liquor without the required licensing. Each of the 20 participants will be charged with assembling for the purpose of illegal gambling, police confirmed.

Along with the arrests, law enforcement seized a total of $10,527 in undeclared cash and multiple bottles of untaxed alcohol connected to the operation. The high-coordination sweep was led by senior officers including Superintendent McKenzie, Assistant Superintendents Balewa and Morales, Inspector Smith, and Woman Sergeant Ramai.

The multi-day search for missing two-year-old Angelo Tobias Plaza in Tobago has entered a devastating new phase, after law enforcement officials received an anonymous tip via WhatsApp that the young boy’s body may have been dumped at the Studley Park landfill in the days following Mother’s Day. This development comes as the investigation into the toddler’s unexplained disappearance continues to unfold, gripping the entire nation of Trinidad and Tobago.

As of yesterday, the toddler’s 22-year-old mother Kalifah Tobias and her partner Shannon Miller, who is identified as Angelo’s stepfather, remained in police custody as detectives work to piece together the timeline of the child’s disappearance. Investigative efforts are being led by a cross-regional team of law enforcement, including officers from the Special Victims Department, the Homicide Bureau, and personnel from Trinidad, operating under the command of Assistant Commissioner of Police Rishi Singh.

Nisha Sookram-Loutan, an inspector and legal officer with the Special Victims Department assigned to the Tobago-based case, reaffirmed law enforcement’s unwavering commitment to the investigation in an interview with the *Express* on Thursday. “We are committed to pursuing every possible lead to bring this case to closure,” she stated, confirming the multi-unit structure of the investigative team.

Detectives are currently analyzing CCTV footage that captures Tobias and Miller near a Goodwood neighborhood supermarket just before 8 p.m. on the Monday Angelo was reported missing. The footage confirms the couple was alone at the time, with no sign of the toddler, a detail that has drawn additional scrutiny from investigators.

Following the new tip, large-scale coordinated search operations have been launched at the Studley Park landfill. Multiple agencies have joined the effort, including the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) which deployed its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle unit for aerial reconnaissance, and the volunteer Hunters Search and Rescue Team. Search teams are carrying out systematic sweeps of sections of the site, combining aerial surveys, on-foot ground searches, and evidence recovery work to locate any trace connected to the missing child.

Angelo was first reported missing last Monday, after relatives discovered he was unaccounted for at the family’s Goodwood home. Since that announcement, law enforcement and volunteer teams have carried out extensive land, sea, and air searches across multiple regions of Tobago, all launched in the hope of bringing the toddler home safely.

The case has sent profound shockwaves through the small island community, with Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Farley Augustine publicly addressing the widespread grief and anger surrounding the disappearance in a social media statement released yesterday. “This disappearance has shaken Tobago to its core. Every parent, every grandparent, every decent citizen feels the weight of this tragedy,” Augustine wrote. “Tobago is hurting, and we refuse to stay silent.”

Augustine shared that the case has weighed heavily on him since his first public remarks, noting that “All of last night this child was on my mind.” He acknowledged the extraordinary effort that ordinary citizens, first responders, and volunteers have put into the search effort over the past week, including fishermen, hunters, village residents, and protective service personnel who have combed every corner of the island for any sign of Angelo.

While he thanked all who have joined the search in solidarity with the child and his extended family, Augustine did not hold back on calling out the many unresolved questions surrounding the case. “Too many questions remain unanswered. The public outrage and heartbreak we are seeing across Tobago and Trinidad right now are completely justified. We have every right to be deeply angry about how this is unfolding and the unconvincing stories that are being circulated,” he said.

Augustine emphasized that the situation has left the national conscience deeply unsettled, and the public is demanding full accountability. “A two-year-old child does not simply vanish without explanation. Toddlers do not climb through ditches and cross rough terrain to reach the ocean in complete darkness,” he argued. “Tobago will not accept the disappearance of a child as a normal event.”

He called on every relevant national agency, including the TTPS, Homicide Bureau, and Child Protection Unit, to treat the investigation with the extreme urgency and seriousness it demands. “Leave no stone unturned. Every lead must be followed, every inconsistency must be examined, and every person with any information must cooperate fully with authorities,” Augustine said.

He went on to stress that any negligence or wrongdoing must be brought to light: “If there has been negligence, it must be exposed. If there has been criminal activity, those responsible must face prosecution. Anyone holding information needs to understand that silence in a case involving a child is completely unacceptable.”

Beyond the immediate investigation, Augustine said the tragedy must push Trinidad and Tobago as a society to reflect on our shared responsibility to protect children. “Too often, after these incidents, we move on too quickly. We cannot do that. Protecting children is not optional – it is a sacred responsibility,” he said. “Today, Tobago stands with Angelo. We stand with the people of Goodwood crying out for justice. We stand with every citizen demanding the truth. We hold onto the belief that this child matters. A nation is judged by how it protects its most vulnerable members. There can be no peace, no comfort, and no closure until we get answers.”

As Trinidad and Tobago moves forward with a planned expansion of criminal courts to cut through a massive backlog of pending cases, a top regional security expert is sounding the alarm that crippling staffing constraints at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) puts both the nation’s justice system and overall national security at severe risk.

Details of the staffing crisis first emerged over the weekend, when the Sunday Express reported that the ODPP has formally confirmed it cannot allocate prosecutors to the newly added court seats, despite the judiciary’s push to expand the High Court’s Criminal Division to tackle the growing backlog that has delayed justice for years. In a formal correspondence dated April 30 addressed to Kimberly Prescott, acting Registrar of the Supreme Court, ODPP Director Roger Gaspard, SC, made clear that the office lacks the prosecutorial workforce to support three to four additional High Court judges that were scheduled to begin hearing backlogged cases starting in early May.

Speaking exclusively to the Express over the weekend, regional security consultant Dr. Garvin Heerah explained that the new court initiative was meant to be a landmark intervention to address rising crime, widespread criminal impunity, long-standing justice delays, and plummeting public trust in the country’s justice institutions. He emphasized that speeding up case prosecution, reducing judicial turnaround times, and strengthening the pathway to successful convictions are non-negotiable steps to rebuild public confidence in the rule of law across the twin-island nation.

While Heerah commended the Trinidad and Tobago government for taking the critical step of expanding court capacity, he stressed that the operational and human infrastructure supporting the reform effort must also be upgraded to match. “Courts that operate without enough prosecutors, legal researchers, administrative support staff, digital case management systems, coordinated witness support, and dedicated security resources will never deliver on the promised outcomes,” Heerah argued. He added that meaningful justice reform depends on aligned investments in personnel, operational readiness, and strategic resource allocation, not just investments in physical court infrastructure.

To address the growing gap between prosecutorial demand and available capacity, Heerah has called for urgent, targeted action. His proposed solutions include accelerated recruitment drives for new prosecutorial staff, temporary secondment programs to bring in additional prosecutorial support, targeted hiring for specialized legal roles, investment in improved case preparation protocols, and modernization of outdated operational systems.

Beyond the immediate staffing crunch, Heerah also raised urgent alarms about operational security gaps for high-stakes cases, including prosecutions involving transnational organized crime, gang violence, public corruption, and intelligence-linked criminal activity. He noted that expanding the volume of court and prosecutorial work will increase the exposure of prosecutors, witnesses, investigators, digital evidence systems, and judicial officers to violent threats, intimidation campaigns, information leaks, and outside interference from criminal networks.

“Proper Operations Security (OPSEC) protocols have to be built into the reform framework from the very start, not added as an afterthought once risks emerge,” Heerah said. He outlined key security measures that should be implemented immediately, including encrypted secure communication systems, controlled protocols for handling sensitive case documents, enhanced protection for digital evidence, restricted access to sensitive prosecutorial workspaces, improved intelligence coordination with security agencies, regular proactive threat assessments, strengthened support for witness protection programs, and upgraded physical security for both prosecutorial offices and court facilities.

Heerah concluded that the long-term success of the court expansion initiative will hinge on whether the government grows prosecutorial capacity, personnel numbers, operational systems, and security infrastructure in lockstep with the broader justice reform agenda. “This is a defining moment for criminal justice reform in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. “If we want to make real, lasting progress in the fight against serious crime, we have to approach this reform with strategic coordination, urgent action, and a focus on long-term sustainability.”

Gaspard’s letter laid bare just how severe the staffing crisis has become over the past three years. He explained that the crisis has deepened after three deputy Directors of Public Prosecutions and two assistant deputy DPPs were promoted to judicial positions, leaving all deputy DPP roles completely vacant and only half of all assistant DPP posts filled. While recruitment falls under the purview of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission and the Office of the Attorney General, Gaspard noted that new appointments are still pending, and even newly hired prosecutors will require months of extensive training before they are qualified to handle complex serious criminal cases.

Currently, Gaspard added, prosecutors already assigned outside of the Assize courts carry extremely heavy caseloads across district courts, children’s courts, masters’ courts, and bail courts, with each prosecuting attorney managing more than 70 active matters at any given time. He warned that shuffling already overstretched personnel to the new High Court seats would inevitably erode both the quality and timeliness of prosecutorial work across all other court levels, creating new delays even as the government tries to solve existing backlogs.

A wide-ranging, methodical investigation is still underway to locate two-year-old Angelo Tobias Plaza, a young child who went missing from the Goodwood area of Tobago, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) has confirmed in an official media statement.

Officially, the case remains classified as a missing person inquiry, but law enforcement has expanded its investigative resources by bringing in the specialized Homicide Bureau of Investigations alongside the Special Victims Department to support the probe. These additional units were activated to ensure every possible line of inquiry is fully explored, authorities explained.

The TTPS first received the official report of Angelo’s disappearance on May 11, and police launched a coordinated, multi-agency search operation immediately after the alert was filed. Search teams combed through the toddler’s residential neighborhood, the surrounding local terrain, and the nearby coastal waters where the child was last reportedly spotted by witnesses.

As part of the ongoing investigative process, detectives have already interviewed multiple people connected to the case and collected formal statements for evidence. Per standard protocol for cases of this nature, investigators are actively examining circumstances related to parental responsibility, which police have identified as a critical line of inquiry. Currently, the child’s parents are cooperating with law enforcement’s questions, a standard step when potential breaches of parental duty are under consideration.

Describing the matter as a highly sensitive and active investigation, TTPS officials confirmed that the Commissioner of Police has approved redirecting extra resources to boost the probe. This includes additional support for the force’s Child Protection Unit and the assignment of a dedicated Legal Officer flown in from Trinidad to assist with the case.

In its statement, the TTPS emphasized its commitment to upholding the highest professional standards throughout the investigation, committing to procedural fairness and full respect for the constitutional rights of all parties involved. The service also noted it would only share updates with the public in a measured, responsible way that does not compromise the case.

Acknowledging that the unexplained disappearance of the young toddler has drawn widespread concern across the national community, police have issued a public appeal for restraint. Law enforcement urged residents to avoid speculative commentary that could interfere with the investigative process, and warned against sharing potential evidence or sensitive case information that has already been turned over to investigators — disclosures that officials say could undermine the integrity of the probe.

Search efforts are still ongoing, and the TTPS is asking any member of the public with information that could help locate Angelo to reach out to investigators through multiple confidential channels. Tips can be submitted to the Scarborough Police Station, the national emergency tip line 555, the anonymous hotline 800-TIPS, or the Tobago 211 community service line. The TTPS says it will release official updates to the public once new, verifiable information becomes available.