The prime minister, Dr. Keith Rowley, expressed grave alarm about the news that there are foreign criminal organizations “interested” in Trinidad and Tobago.
After spending three days in Washington, DC, Dr. Rowley was giving a speech at a media briefing at Whitehall. During his visit, he met with US authorities, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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According to him, he and his group had a meeting with FBI officials to discuss some “internal problems.”
PM Rowley noted, “We also met with officials of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). We do have some problems in Trinidad and Tobago here which I will not burden you with today…given the nature of our relationship with the United States, the resources of the FBI and the CIA were made available to us to deal with our own internal problems.”
He added, “we are now attracting elements of international organized crime which is very concerning to the government of Trinidad and Tobago so we are discussing this with the United States to get as much help as we can in ensuring that our bad situation is not worsened by these developments…certain criminals are liking us and these are not small-timers.”
According to Dr. Rowley, they also had meetings with top representatives from the State Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy and the Department of Homeland Security.
Along with Dr. Rowley, other attendees at security briefings at Langley and the Pentagon were House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Dr. Philip Gordon, the Vice President’s national security advisor.
Additionally, he had meetings with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, President of Eximbank Reta Jo Lewis, and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton.
According to Dr. Rowley, there is also legislation in the works that addresses the trafficking of weapons between the United States and the Caribbean, which may help lower the number of crimes using illicit firearms in the area.
