Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday a recent WhatsApp video depicting criminal gang members displaying sophisticated guns at various locations in T&T will be addressed by the National Security Council (NSC) on Tuesday.
Rowley made the comment during yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, as he admitted to not having seen the video yet.
Asked about the prevalence of high-powered guns entering the country undetected and our porous borders, Rowley said people were still trying and sometimes succeeding in penetrating our coastal borders.
“We know that is the problem. We know we have maritime borders and have to make them as secure as possible. Don’t forget there is a market in Trinidad and Tobago for arms and ammunition,” the PM said.
But Rowley said some people in the country went after the arms and ammunition to conduct their daily affairs.
“There are people outside of our country who are hell bent on supplying that market. So whether we put in place... whether the Coast Guard, fence, a post, whatever... we always have to aim to be accurate 100 per cent of the time, otherwise some persons are going to get in with arms and ammunition into our country. And we have been seeing within recent times... not just arms, but a higher quality of ammunition.”
The PM said they were not satisfied with the situation but were working on the issue.
Rowley also disclosed that the face recognition system at the Piarco International Airport had been sabotaged. He said because the National Security Council had been functioning effectively they were able to pick up on and rectify “where we have discovered for many months... or God knows for how long before we came into office that the face recognition system at Piarco Airport had been deliberately sabotaged.”
As a result, Rowley said passengers entering and leaving the airport, including law-abiding and criminals, could not have been identified.
He refused to elaborate on the matter but when questioned if anyone had been held or arrested he said he did not know.
“There are certain things that for our own... something... sometimes are better left unsaid for a while.”