COPS 'IN CAHOOTS' WITH DRUG DEALERS

Probe Into Missing Marijuana, Cocaine

Investigators probing the disappearance of 28 blocks of compressed
marijuana and four kilogrammes of cocaine from the scene of a crime
are now in a quandary, having received information that two police
officers were in cahoots with drug dealers.

Investigators initially believed that the disappearance of the drugs
came after the drug dealers fled the scene after a shoot-out with
police in Maraval. However, new information suggests that the drug
dealers were working alongside a rogue senior officer in transporting
the drugs to its destination.

Sources say one of the officers heads a special unit in the North
Eastern Division (NED), while the other, a constable with over 20
years service, is attached to a unit in the Port of Spain Division.

The drugs were being transported by two drug mules on March 26, and
were destined for Laventille Road, San Juan. Sources say
investigations into the matter have so far revealed that the drugs
entered Trinidad on March 25 and were being kept in an area at Las
Cuevas. Prior to the drugs arriving in Trinidad, a deal was made
with the NED officer.

The deal, sources say, was that the officer receive $7,500 to ensure
safe transportation of the drugs. This meant the officer was to
inform the suspects if there was a roadblock so they could avoid it.

However, sources said the payment was never made and when the drugs
were being transported, members of a tactical unit received a call
that drugs were leaving the Las Cuevas area and got the description
of the car, an Almera, which the suspects were driving.

Two teams of officers then positioned themselves in the Maracas and
Maraval areas. Three constables who were patrolling the Maracas area
spotted the car in the vicinity of the Maracas look-out and signalled
for the suspects to stop and they complied. However, as the
constables approached the suspects drove off.

Meanwhile, three other officers, a Cpl, WPC and PC Ryan Duncan, were
conducting a road block exercise in the vicinity of the Maraval
pillars, when they heard several gunshots - which were coming from
the chase between their colleagues and the drug mules. During the
exchange between the officers and the suspects, Duncan, who has four
years service, received injuries to his left hand and back and was
rushed to the Port of Spain General Hospital by his colleagues, where
he was treated and later discharged.

However, investigators say they received information that while the
suspects were hiding, a marked police jeep with three officers
attached to the Port of Spain Division arrived and took the drugs
from the car trunk.

Sources say the suspects then called the NED senior and told him what
they witnessed. The NED senior in turn alerted a high-ranking officer
and related what occurred.

One of the officers, a constable, with seven years service was
detained shortly after the incident but was released on Sunday.