National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said yesterday that he was awaiting a report from acting Commissioner of Police Harold Phillip on the latest video showing gang members posing with high-powered weapons.
He said so yesterday following an exclusive T&T Guardian report yesterday which highlighted the contents of the recently made video, which features members of the Rasta City gang from various parts of the country showing off their arsenal of high-powered weapons.
The video, which the T&T Guardian understands was made less than a month ago, is being used to show the gang’s reach across the country and as a recruiting tool for new members.
Phillip has ordered the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit to do an investigation into the vide, which shows members of the Rasta City gang displaying high-tech guns, including Mac 10, Uzi, Tec-9, AK 47 and AR15 rifles. Some of the men featured in the video are currently in prison.
Speaking after attending a community outreach drive hosted by the Public Utilities Ministry at the Open Bible Cathedral, Cap-de-ville, Point Fortin, Dillon said:
“The Police Commissioner is addressing that right now. He has launched his own investigation and I await the report.”
Asked whether he was alarmed by the type of weaponry on display, Dillon responded: “I am alarmed at anything that tells me illegal activities are going on. That video suggests that there are some illegal activities there.
“I am not aware of anyone with a firearm licence who is allowed to carry those types of weapons anyway. There must be some illegality and the CoP has launched his investigation and I await the report.”
Dillon also said the Commissioner of Prisons, Sterling Stewart, would continue to monitor activities at the nation’s prisons where an underground network feeding contraband items to prisoners exists and gangs continue to have an influence on activities both inside and outside the prison.
“We will continue to have a shake-up. The Commissioner of Prisons has said quite clearly that no longer will prisons officers be sheltered. If they fail to follow the law, they will go to prison openly like any other prisoner.
“We have put scanners and jammers into the prison system and we have instituted different measures to deter the officers from being corrupt,” Dillon said.
He denied claims the scanners and jammers were being sabotaged, insisting everything was in good working order.
“There are people who continue to beat the system but we will re-strategise as we go along. We will set the example of anyone who breaks the law. All will be held accountable,” Dillon said.
He also said he was not satisfied with the influx of guns and ammunition coming through T&T’s porous borders.
“The only time I will be satisfied is when there are no more guns coming into T&T. I can tell you, between the Defence Force, the Air Guard and the Coast Guard, we have instituted joint patrols along coastal borders.”
He also said that “police have seized the highest amount of arms and ammunition in the history of this country for the year so far and the year is not yet complete,” adding the various arms of law enforcement will continue to go behind the illegal movement of guns and ammunition within the society.
“Our police are working hard but we cannot stick to a 40-hour work week. We will pay you for working the extra hours because we need the manpower and resources on the ground to treat with criminality,” Dillon said.