Trinidad and Tobago imposes another state of emergency after uncovering plot to kill key officials

PORT-OF-SPAIN Trinidad AP Trinidad and Tobago declared a new state of urgency on Friday after government accused a criminal configuration operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key establishment authorities and attack general institutions It s the second state of exigency to be declared in the twin-island republic in a matter of months Last December officials took similar action citing concerns about gang violence That state of urgency lasted until mid-April Police announced that smuggled cell phones enabled those involved in the plot to exchange encrypted messages and communicate Months of intelligence gathering led investigators to believe the targets included senior police officers members of the judiciary and employees at the state prosecution office police mentioned They were planning actively so to carry out assassinations robberies and kidnappings Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro commented at a news conference Police described those involved as a coordinated and highly dangerous criminal structure Guevarro stated the intelligence account prompted him to recommend that newly elected Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declare the emergency noting there were no particular threats to any politicians Gang leaders who were housed in a maximum-security prison in east Trinidad where illegal possession of cellphones and other communication devices has long been a matter have been relocated to an unidentified facility he revealed without providing any details We have seen latest acts of kidnapping and homicides being perpetrated against our citizenry that we have been able to trace back to this organized crime syndicate Guevarro announced Under the state of urgency police can conduct searches and make arrests without a warrant A curfew has not been put into effect Last year the country of more than million people stated killings its deadliest on record according to police records As of July police reported the number of killings this year stood at a decline compared to killings in the same period last year Source