TRINIDAD & TOBAGO - A NARCO STATE

 

When my cousin was murdered some twenty-five years ago (N.B. The person who ordered his murder as well as the actual hitman were never charged) I spent considerable time and energy into trying to find out what happened. Very, Very briefly, my cousin was murdered on the order of an English Drug Lord to a Trinidadian Drug Lord who engaged a police corporal to do the deed. During the course of my investigation I discovered that there were at that time twelve major Drug Lords in Trinidad of whom my cousin's killer was one. I also found out that the 'black' or drug economy was equal to this country's then budget, which was about sixty billion dollars.

(Incidentally, just so you can appreciate that number: if I gave you one billion dollars on the day that they crucified Jesus Christ, and you lived forever and spent at the rate of a thousand dollars a day, you would have something like a hundred and ten years to go before you ran out of money.)

In the ensuing twenty-five years nothing has really changed and it is most unlikely that the twelve major Drug Lords have ceased their nefarious activities. It Is also quite possible that there are more than twelve major Drug Lords today. I honestly don't know because after delving into the story and giving what I knew to the police at that time, I stopped looking into the matter when I realized that the police were going to do nothing about the murder of my cousin. But you can readily appreciate where the money to buy the guns that are plaguing us right now is coming from.

Why am I raising this now? Because it has struck me that although we like to pretend that we are so much better than Venezuela which has become a Narco State and which is heavily influenced (if not controlled) by Drug Lords the sad truth is that we are in the same boat. At the time of my cousin's murder the drug trade was worth about Sixty Billion TT dollars a year. My guess (and it is purely a guess) is that it is much more now. The point is also that these monies flowing into and out of TT must be having an effect on the local economy. In other words, if is cut off we all could suffer. So it wouldn't be in any government's interest  (much less ability) to interfere with this.

Some may ask why I haven't named any of the Drug Lords. The answer is because I have never had any proof that could stand in a Court of Law. Did I tell the police? Yes.

 Let me put it like this: I was at your house at midnight last night. I know I was there and you know I was there, but I am going to lie and say that I wasn't. Nobody except you saw me and I have a dozen witnesses who will swear that I was with them. The result? I will not be found guilty - even without my 'witnesses'  as it would be your word against mine, and a person is not guilty unless and until the evidence is beyond reasonable doubt. In other words, you can't prove beyond reasonable doubt that I was there. It would be your word against mine. The proof that I had was something like that. I had no evidence that could stand up in a Court of Law (and still don't). But that doesn't mean that I don't know what happened or who killed my relative and why, (he was killed because he had discovered that the TT Drug Lord was doing the illegal business with the English Drug Lord)  just as you would be unable to prove that I was at your house last night. It doesn't mean that I wasn't there, just that you can't prove it.

But this article is not about my cousin's murder. It is about the fact that we have become a Narco State and that the Drug Lords are operating with impunity here. The fact is that they are now so wealthy and so powerful that they are probably untouchable. Isn't that sad?