T&T assists US with US$25m Portugal drug bust
THE seizure of more than 1,600 kilogrammes of cocaine with an estimated value of US$25 million in Portugal was the result of security cooperation between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States, the US Embassy in Port of Spain has said.
In a news release yesterday, the embassy stated that “on June 14, security co-operation between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago resulted in the seizure of 1,660 kgs of cocaine worth US$25 million in Portugal and the arrest of three foreign nationals”.
It stated further that for several months, agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) based at the embassy in Port of Spain, and officers from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) Vetted Unit, the Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU), and the Seaport Cooperation Project (SEACOP) worked a bilateral maritime narcotics trafficking case together.
“A sailboat laden with 1,660 kg of cocaine left Trinidad waters in early June and was intercepted on June 14 by the Portuguese Navy and the Portuguese Judicial Police off the Azores Archipelago in Portugal,” it added.
“Three crew members, between 43 and 51 years of age, were also arrested. SEACOP is a collaborative initiative with the European Union to fight illicit maritime trafficking.”
The Embassy disclosed that the June 14 seizure of the targeted sailboat was part of Operation Vikings—a “complex operation involving DEA agents in Trinidad and Tobago, Portugal, Spain, and Denmark; and several law enforcement agencies in Portugal.
“Operation Vikings had been investigating the targeted drug-trafficking organisation for two years; the seizure of the boat was the latest success of the ongoing operation”.
According to the US Embassy, the TTPS’s Vetted Unit and TOCU, which work closely with DEA on investigations related to transnational organised crime, provided support which led to the seizure and arrests in Portuguese waters.
“The seizure represents the success in Trinidad and Tobago law enforcement efforts to focus on transnational drug trafficking that uses the Caribbean as a base of operations,” the embassy stated.
