By Sue-Ann Wayow
ANY attempt to disable the country’s affairs using gang-related activities will be immediately shut down.
On Friday night, Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith met with several well-known “persons of interest,” telling them that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) will respond quickly if there were any attempts to escalate gang-related criminal activity in the country, the TTPS stated in a press release on Saturday.
This follows numerous WhatsApp messages purporting to such activities, which began circulating on Friday and caused fear and panic among the population.
The TTPS stated that immediately upon receipt of the information, acting Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Joanne Archie, held a coordinating meeting with various specialised and intelligence units, including Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB), Special Investigations Unit (SIU), and Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), Port-of-Spain CID, all First Division officers of Port-of-Spain Division, the Traffic and Highway Patrol Branch, Multi-Operational Police Section (MOB) and the Port-of-Spain Task Force.
Following the meeting, several persons of interest were brought into the Besson Street and St Joseph Police Stations. Griffith visited both police stations, where he issued a stern warning those who were being held there, making it clear that the “TTPS will not tolerate any plans among groups to cause any mayhem and destruction.”
Griffith said he received hundreds of messages from concerned members of the public about the veracity of the messages and he made it emphasised that if the messages circulating had any truth, the TTPS will move swiftly to take down any attempts to escalate any gang-related criminal activity that brings inconvenience to the public.
He reminded the “persons of interest” of the attempts made at the end of June 2020, which were met with immediate resistance by the TTPS.
As a result of the messages which were circulating, the commissioner said the TTPS has put certain measures in place should any attempts be made to escalate gang-related criminal activity.
And Griffithalso advised the public to be wary of any misinformation that was being circulated on social media as there was no intelligence to verify these alleged threats.
