Police in Grenada are keeping quiet about a fishing boat found adrift in the northeast Atlantic coast by local fisherman.
On Thursday, two fishermen from Grenville discovered a boat nearly two kilometers out on the River Antoine. There were no people on the boat. “There was some clothing and some passports; I do not want to reveal the nationality of the passports at this time,” stated Assistant Commissioner of Police Vannie Curwen at a news conference organized by the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF).
The case is being investigated, according to Curwen, who is in charge of Crime. The location of the boat’s current docking has not been disclosed by police. When questioned if the passports discovered bore regional or international stamps, ASP Simon Douglas, who leads the Community Relations Department, stated, “I don’t know why the nationality was not disclosed, and I will have to seek permission to disclose that.”
The Grenada Coast Guard spotted a boat with seven dead victims drifting near Gun Point on the Grenadine island of Carriacou in December 2021 and escorted it to Harvey Vale. Carriacou is a small island to the north of Grenada.
At the time, police stated that preliminary digital forensic investigation of electronic equipment seized aboard the boat led them to assume that the incident was related to people trafficking or human smuggling.
“Preliminary findings indicate that this incident involves multiple countries and nationalities.” When set against the reality that similar findings and sightings have occurred elsewhere in the Caribbean and Central America region, we believe this incidence can be supported and is more likely to be related with human trafficking or human smuggling,” the Police noted at the time.
Police have yet to provide an update on the investigation into the seven bodies, two of which were thought to be teens.
