The gang who shot up Anisa Rampersad’s home just after midnight could barely see in the pitch dark. With the firepower they had, they didn’t need to. In 60 seconds, they fired 53 rounds from three weapons, riddling her wooden shack with bullets. By the time they fled, four of her five children were dead.

“I woke up to loud explosions, and saw my older daughter’s room lighting up with sparks from the bullets,” Rampersad, 40, recalls. “We still don’t know why they came; people spread stories, but we weren’t involved in anything – no drugs, guns, nothing.”

The massacre in Arima, Trinidad – a satellite town of Trinidad and Tobago’s capital, Port of Spain – is part of an epidemic of gun violence that has swept what was once a Caribbean idyll. It is fuelled by a toxic mix of gangs, the drugs trade and the proliferation of high-powered firearms.

Read more here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/trinidad-and-tobago-gang-warfare-organised-crime/

#TrinidadAndTobago #GangViolence #OrganizedCrime

We’re in uh Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. Best known as a tropical paradise of sun, sand, and sea. But not every bit of Trinidad is quite like that. [Music] How much marijuana is that? Those with the power need to come down and assist us. Here in the capital port of Spain, there are certain neighborhoods that have been suffering very severe problems with gang violence. [Music] Last year, there were more than 600 murders, which is a lot in a country of just a million and a half people. Heavenly Father, we come to you once more, dear. Father, there’s always a joy to come to you, Father, knowing that you are not far away from us, but you are always here for you are omniresent. Trinidad’s police put their life on the line every time they go out on patrol. We put um persons p perceive police officers. That is one of the greatest challenges because in order for us to car our function, we need the help of the public. However, the public perceive police officers basically as oppressors. Is that enough to arrest somebody for? No. No. Apart from a police dog sniffing out a quarter pound of cannabis hidden behind a lampost, it was a quiet day. But that isn’t always the case. Gang warfare is always a title and swoot indiscriminately. So you have innocent persons, civilians getting swapped. They will exhibit total control over the gal members. Right? You have seen instances where it is the leader of a gang will send a member to put down a shooting in the center of Port of Spain in the middle of the days. Searching a Shabine where someone had been shot two nights earlier. Police found a machete in a homemade balaclava. The residents tried to claim to the officers that the eyes and mouth in the balaclava were just holes bitten by a dog. According to David Mard, a reformed drug dealer, all too many young Trinidadians are being tempted into drug crime. I sold drugs to the tune of millions of dollars. I hurt people for drugs, for money. I did terrible things in the States. I did terrible things, you know, in the name of drugs. And this is what the the pull of the drug trade is. the the exponential earning capabilities that you cannot match in any other form of lifestyle. Oops. Because of the gun crime problems in Trinidad, a lot of people are taking increased home and personal protection measures. We’re now heading up to a gun range out of town where people are getting instruction in how to use firearms. [Music] [Applause] My big to my eldest daughter room start to light up with sparks. That’s how I know gun man was in the house. Still don’t know why they come. We hearing all kind of stories but we wasn’t wasn’t doing anything wrong. In Trinad we would have what we consider serious crimes. So under serious crimes you would have things like kidnapping, murders, um rapes so forth, right? Almost daily you’d be hearing about home invasions. We are the ones who live in a prison. We put uh bars on our windows, steel bars. We have reinforced doors, security locks. They don’t just practice shooting at targets on these weapons self-defense courses. They also simulate carjacking incidents with bullets going through the windscreen and unfortunately victims sitting in the passenger seat.

48 Comments

  1. Wow a Whole Quarter pound of Marijuana thats like 84 Grams over the Legal Weight of 28 Grams… Unless its Owned by 4 PPL Then it becomes Legal by Law according to the State. What a Ficade. The State really paying these people so much Money to Waste Time and Pretend to be Working? Pulling Stones on the Work.

  2. I have no sympathy for people who choose to behave in the way those people do.we all reap what we sow. It’s been like that for as long as anyone can rememberer, and I can’t see the situation changing anytime soon.

  3. Gangs and police are bad for the communities and the nations of ppl. They oppress ppl, abuse, manipulate, kill, steal, etc. it was system that was created by some primitive society ppl who can’t connect with other nations so they create this chaos system on ppl throat all nations

  4. Corruption and its instant reward has its hands in every department. In my country Suriname has the same disease and its effects are starting to look similar as T&T

  5. Trinidad is a small island, how are all the guns coming into the island. Why can't the government install a nationwide camera system to track and solve crimes, Install car plate readers to identify stolen cars used in crimes.

  6. Don’t forget about the corruption as well! Rest in peace to everyone who lost their lives to gang violence or police violence ❤😢

  7. The prayer in the beginning is the most powerful weapon the police have.

    1 John 3:8

    Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

  8. Sad to see what my fathers homeland has become. Pray for the best possible outcome for my Trinidadian people 🇹🇹🇬🇾

  9. Say it isn't so!! I thought it was the land of soca and calypso. Lots of niceness. OMG😢😢 What is going on??

  10. Guns?? So the guns are shooting themselves? 😅🤡 , they're alive? Or is it just a human problem? Stop blaming the guns, blame humans 🤡

  11. Trinidad has similar history, institutions, structures and customs yet no other island is as morally destitute as Trinidad. It's citizens are greedy, lawless, selfish and shallow.

  12. How about legalize cannabis for a start??
    Trinidad makes a lot of money from oil revenue and the most impoverished people see no benefit from it. Trinidad's government is inept.

  13. Literally some of the worst reporting I've ever seen, the telegraph should be embarrassed

  14. Why on earth are they arresting people for Marijuana? Have we not learned that is a HORRIBLE idea?

  15. Haiti is the same way — certain parts of the country are dealing with gang violence, others are untouched paradises, but the difference is the media chooses to demonize Haiti and portray only the negativity. 🤔🤔

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