A MAN wanted in the US for heroin and cocaine trafficking is arrested in Trinidad.
The man was held on Tuesday following an investigation that involved both the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office at the US Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago and the Trinidad and Tobago Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU).
He was charged in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and will be extradited to Pennsylvania to face charges. During the early morning execution of the arrest warrant, agents found a firearm and one kilogramme of cocaine in the suspect’s residence, a release from the US Embassy stated. He is wanted in the US for trafficking in $1 million worth of heroin and cocaine.
The US Embassy’s DEA Office personnel and TOCU have been working side by side for almost 20 years, a release from the US embassy stated.
US Ambassador Candace Bond said of the arrest, “I am proud of the painstaking work the US Embassy’s DEA agents do every single day to help end drug trafficking and to strengthen citizen security for the people of Trinidad and Tobago. DEA agents working closely with members of Trinidad and Tobago law enforcement act as a force multiplier.
She said the arrest was “more evidence that the United States is Trinidad and Tobago’s most reliable friend and partner in the world.”
Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds also spoke about the arrest.
He said, “US DEA agents in Philadelphia and at the US Embassy started working on this case with us in 2020, culminating in this major arrest and extradition order. I am gratified that our excellent cooperation has led to this arrest. We count on our American partners in law enforcement to assist us in making Trinidad and Tobago safer for our communities.”
