(Trinidad Express) – There are 110 gangs operating in Trinidad and Tobago, each with an average membership of 12 people, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said on Wednesday.
Based on statistics from the Police Service, Ramlogan said some of the gangs are so large, they have a membership of between 50 to 100 people.
Piloting the Anti-Gang Bill in Parliament on Wednesday, Ramlogan said the recruitment process was a very aggressive one, and the incentives they offer are very good.
“The indoctrination process to join a gang is such that you have to prove yourself worthy of membership in the gang by committing petty crimes-robbery, selling drugs, robbing a maxi-taxi. But to gain entry into the bigger and better gangs, you have to actually prove that you could murder a man or woman in cold blood,” he said.
Noting the gangs had no respect for law and order, he stated: “That is why this legislation has teeth that would bite, eat into the flesh, until it reaches the very bone.”
He recalled on June 7, 2005, former national security minister Martin Joseph revealed there were 66 gangs comprising 500 men. He said although Joseph then promised “we will hunt you down”, “they couldn’t find these 500 men in five years”.
He said the number of gangs and hardcore members was able to multiply, leading to an undeclared state of emergency and self-imposed curfew in certain parts of the country.
He also recalled former prime minister Patrick Manning hosting gang leaders for breakfast at Crowne Plaza, Port of Spain, which he said was one of the most demoralising things in the history of this country. Saying the People’s National Movement (PNM) allowed the gang problem to mushroom, Ramlogan added: “They harboured the gang leaders…they allowed them to flourish, giving them URP (Unemploy-ment Relief Programme) contracts and wining and dining with them”.
