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TRICKS OF THE TRADE - PART ONE
By Mark Bassant
By Senior Multimedia Investigative Journalist
Story Created: Dec 6, 2011 ECT
Story Updated: Dec 6, 2011 at 6:50 PM ECT
Tricks of the Trade begins a five-part series examining the drug link on the sea ports between Trinidad and Jamaica with a special focus on one of the largest drug seizures on the Port Lisas port in mid-September.
Senior Multimedia Investigative Journalist Mark Bassant travelled to Jamaica in the hope of finding some answers. This is the first part of his series which appeared on TV6 Monday night.
PART ONE
They come and go by the hundreds each day. Thousands each year around Trinidad and Tobago.
Steel containers brought by ship from around the world, all the goods that help drive the world economy.
But law enforcement authorities know the danger that can lurk behind each and every door.
The prevalence of illegal drugs, as drug dealers try to discreetly move their product from one country to another.
Over two months ago on September 15, Customs officials in Trinidad were able to make one of the biggest drug seizures for the year at the Point Lisas port- uncovering over $33 million in marijuana hidden in a 40 foot refrigerated container shipped from New York via Jamaica, before it arrived in this country on September 14.
A troubling trend was developing; it turned out to be the third significant multimillion dollar drug find at this port in the last seven months.
On March 9 of this year police officers discovered close to $2 million worth of marijuana in a container. Two days later on March 11 they recovered close to $30 million in marijuana found in several different sea port containers, before this latest find in September.
After the March drug seizures, president of the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation (PLIPDECO) Ashley Taylor said he made it his business to ensure a special tactical response unit was formed internally to work in tandem with law enforcement authorities.
"A lot of collaboration has taken place we have done no less than 20 joint exercises with customs and police, some with police alone some joint and as a result that joint collaboration and profiling of containers resulted in this additional find in September," Taylor explained.
During a tour of the Point Lisas port, Taylor explained to the Express that all containers for export and import must be checked by security personnel before they enter or leave the port.
Taylor's explanation becomes animated as a line of container trucks pull up at the entrance to the Point Lisas port. Proper documentation and checks to verify the weight of the cargo has to be presented before the driver is allowed to depart.
On a daily basis he says this port handles 300 containers.
Eighty per cent is domestic cargo import and export and transhipment containers account for twenty percent.
Sitting along the port's docks are two giant gantry cranes involved in the handling of containers that extends over 300 feet in the air.
As an added security measure these cranes have now been outfitted with security cameras, allowing officials to get an even closer look at the containers and any suspicious activity during the loading or removal of these containers.
A symbiotic arrangement now allows custom officials to view footage real time on this port as well as Port of Spain, to assist them in their operational and security surveillance.
Taylor said they recently beefed up security around the perimeter, as several cameras have been mounted on steel posts near the beachfront.
Added to this, are CCTV monitoring systems and hidden crane cameras installed to keep an even closer eye on operations.
But in the past, security at both the Port Lisas and Port of Spain ports have been questionable.
However, Taylor admits this country's systematic searches of sea port containers are still better in comparison to the United States.
"We still do a substantially higher percentage than what is done in major ports for example in the US there are millions of containers passing through on an annual basis. They probably search less than one percent of their containers. Approximately 10-15% of containers that come here import are actually profiled by Customs for additional searches."
But looking outside the walls of our local ports- there is one common thread law enforcement authorities have unravelled - and that's most of the marijuana recently seized comes out of Jamaica's port or at least passes through that country.
The latest drug find has taken law enforcement authorities on a Transatlantic investigation to map out this intricate ring and the player involved.
Jamaican law enforcement officials visited this country in late September to share their knowledge concerning the $33 million drug find.
How crucial was the information shared?
In a response via email, Customs Comptroller Fitroy John told the Express,"our interaction with the Jamaican law enforcement authorities is crucial,simply because certain events happened in Jamaica."
John who was sent at least 16 questions about the investigation said he didn't feel it necessary to speak to the Express in person; in an investigation that has generated huge public interest.
The Express travelled to Jamaica in search of further pieces to this drug trafficking puzzle.
There, Deputy Commissioner of Police for Operations and Crime, Glenmore Hinds informed the Express they were pursing their leg of the investigation relentlessly.
"It is no secret that Jamaica is a major producing country of ganja, said Hinds.
Hinds, admitted that on the Kingston port they have detected an escalating pattern that facilitates drug trafficking at the ports.He made direct reference to inside involvement in this booming trade that stretches its tentacles across the globe.
"The transhipment point is not as significant as it was four to five years ago but we still see residual transhipment activity all be in smaller quantities. What we tend to see is persons sending out larger amounts of ganga out of Jamaica and yes they tend to look at containers that are been turned around and these can only be contaminated by persons who have access to the facility," pointed out DCP Hinds.
It's a fact that President of the Trinidad and Tobago shipping association Rhett Chee Ping concurred with.
"Anybody wants to steal they are going to find a way to do it.They have to be involved in order for the drugs to come into the port to get into a container surely it must pass the gate. We have, not just here any other port we have customs you have other port security personnel so that must come into the port. In order for the containers to be opened that means it probably has to be moved from what location it is at, so somebody could have better cover so they can open the doors and get it put in," said Chee Ping.
Next: A closer look at port operations at the Jamaica port and what authorities have uncovered about the $33million dollar drug bust in Point Lisas.
By Mark Bassant
By Senior Multimedia Investigative Journalist
Story Created: Dec 6, 2011 ECT
Story Updated: Dec 6, 2011 at 6:50 PM ECT
Tricks of the Trade begins a five-part series examining the drug link on the sea ports between Trinidad and Jamaica with a special focus on one of the largest drug seizures on the Port Lisas port in mid-September.
Senior Multimedia Investigative Journalist Mark Bassant travelled to Jamaica in the hope of finding some answers. This is the first part of his series which appeared on TV6 Monday night.
PART ONE
They come and go by the hundreds each day. Thousands each year around Trinidad and Tobago.
Steel containers brought by ship from around the world, all the goods that help drive the world economy.
But law enforcement authorities know the danger that can lurk behind each and every door.
The prevalence of illegal drugs, as drug dealers try to discreetly move their product from one country to another.
Over two months ago on September 15, Customs officials in Trinidad were able to make one of the biggest drug seizures for the year at the Point Lisas port- uncovering over $33 million in marijuana hidden in a 40 foot refrigerated container shipped from New York via Jamaica, before it arrived in this country on September 14.
A troubling trend was developing; it turned out to be the third significant multimillion dollar drug find at this port in the last seven months.
On March 9 of this year police officers discovered close to $2 million worth of marijuana in a container. Two days later on March 11 they recovered close to $30 million in marijuana found in several different sea port containers, before this latest find in September.
After the March drug seizures, president of the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation (PLIPDECO) Ashley Taylor said he made it his business to ensure a special tactical response unit was formed internally to work in tandem with law enforcement authorities.
"A lot of collaboration has taken place we have done no less than 20 joint exercises with customs and police, some with police alone some joint and as a result that joint collaboration and profiling of containers resulted in this additional find in September," Taylor explained.
During a tour of the Point Lisas port, Taylor explained to the Express that all containers for export and import must be checked by security personnel before they enter or leave the port.
Taylor's explanation becomes animated as a line of container trucks pull up at the entrance to the Point Lisas port. Proper documentation and checks to verify the weight of the cargo has to be presented before the driver is allowed to depart.
On a daily basis he says this port handles 300 containers.
Eighty per cent is domestic cargo import and export and transhipment containers account for twenty percent.
Sitting along the port's docks are two giant gantry cranes involved in the handling of containers that extends over 300 feet in the air.
As an added security measure these cranes have now been outfitted with security cameras, allowing officials to get an even closer look at the containers and any suspicious activity during the loading or removal of these containers.
A symbiotic arrangement now allows custom officials to view footage real time on this port as well as Port of Spain, to assist them in their operational and security surveillance.
Taylor said they recently beefed up security around the perimeter, as several cameras have been mounted on steel posts near the beachfront.
Added to this, are CCTV monitoring systems and hidden crane cameras installed to keep an even closer eye on operations.
But in the past, security at both the Port Lisas and Port of Spain ports have been questionable.
However, Taylor admits this country's systematic searches of sea port containers are still better in comparison to the United States.
"We still do a substantially higher percentage than what is done in major ports for example in the US there are millions of containers passing through on an annual basis. They probably search less than one percent of their containers. Approximately 10-15% of containers that come here import are actually profiled by Customs for additional searches."
But looking outside the walls of our local ports- there is one common thread law enforcement authorities have unravelled - and that's most of the marijuana recently seized comes out of Jamaica's port or at least passes through that country.
The latest drug find has taken law enforcement authorities on a Transatlantic investigation to map out this intricate ring and the player involved.
Jamaican law enforcement officials visited this country in late September to share their knowledge concerning the $33 million drug find.
How crucial was the information shared?
In a response via email, Customs Comptroller Fitroy John told the Express,"our interaction with the Jamaican law enforcement authorities is crucial,simply because certain events happened in Jamaica."
John who was sent at least 16 questions about the investigation said he didn't feel it necessary to speak to the Express in person; in an investigation that has generated huge public interest.
The Express travelled to Jamaica in search of further pieces to this drug trafficking puzzle.
There, Deputy Commissioner of Police for Operations and Crime, Glenmore Hinds informed the Express they were pursing their leg of the investigation relentlessly.
"It is no secret that Jamaica is a major producing country of ganja, said Hinds.
Hinds, admitted that on the Kingston port they have detected an escalating pattern that facilitates drug trafficking at the ports.He made direct reference to inside involvement in this booming trade that stretches its tentacles across the globe.
"The transhipment point is not as significant as it was four to five years ago but we still see residual transhipment activity all be in smaller quantities. What we tend to see is persons sending out larger amounts of ganga out of Jamaica and yes they tend to look at containers that are been turned around and these can only be contaminated by persons who have access to the facility," pointed out DCP Hinds.
It's a fact that President of the Trinidad and Tobago shipping association Rhett Chee Ping concurred with.
"Anybody wants to steal they are going to find a way to do it.They have to be involved in order for the drugs to come into the port to get into a container surely it must pass the gate. We have, not just here any other port we have customs you have other port security personnel so that must come into the port. In order for the containers to be opened that means it probably has to be moved from what location it is at, so somebody could have better cover so they can open the doors and get it put in," said Chee Ping.
Next: A closer look at port operations at the Jamaica port and what authorities have uncovered about the $33million dollar drug bust in Point Lisas.
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