(Trinidad Express) A reputed gang leader’s run from the law came to an end at a luxurious haven on Tuesday night.
Senior investigators told the Express that members of the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) raided a fourth-floor multimillion-dollar apartment, close to 8 p.m, at One Woodbrook Place, Woodbrook, and arrested 45-year-old Selwyn “Robocop” Alexis and his 36-year-old female associate, Hermala Solomon.
The arrest of Robocop came a week after alleged gang leader Cedric “Burkie” Burke, 36, and gang member Keon “Baine” Bain, 31, were held at the Hyatt Regency hotel and later charged under the Anti-Gang legislation.
The sophisticated operation, which involved more than 20 officers, was conducted at the luxurious apartments while most tenants were indoors.
Intelligence sources told the Express, “We had him under surveillance for several months, and things intensified over the last two weeks, which led us here.”
The CIU also locked down outside the apartments, ensuring no one was allowed to enter until the operation had been completed.
A high-powered, heavily armed team of CIU officers kicked in the door to the apartment as Robocop sat watching television.
The woman, police say, was in one of the bedrooms of the apartment.
For almost an hour and a half, the officers searched the fully furnished, two-bedroom apartment and seized a laptop, several documents and cellphones belonging to the duo.
Police say they received credible information that the apartment had been rented out to him at a cost of TT$15,000 a month.
Investigators said they asked Robocop several times who owned the apartment, but he remained silent.
They have since contacted the building’s administration to find out who is the registered owner of the apartment.
They are also questioning what kind of connection or arrangement the owner has with the suspects.
Around 9.50 p.m, Robocop was handcuffed and, together with the woman, led out of the apartment under heavy police guard.
Dressed in Muslim garb and a black pair of sneakers without laces, the handcuffed Robocop was taken to the basement level two parking, together with the woman.
She, too, was fully attired in Muslim wear and hid her face from the cameras as she was led away by a female officer.
Downstairs, crime scene officers dusted a black Toyota Vigo luxury van for prints, as well as a silver Nissan B-14 motorcar parked next to it.
Officers later informed the Express that the van bore false number plates and was unregistered.
From time to time, the anxious-looking woman was interrogated by officers who made a thorough search of the vehicles.
She leaned on another car as she tried to conceal her face with a green rag.
Mere metres away, Robocop stood surrounded by police officers.
With an uneasy look etched on his face, he pleaded his case to the Express.
“You know I is a business man. I doing my construction and have my grocery running. I not dealing with that crime thing,” he said.
Turning to the police officers, with a smirk on his face, he asked, “So what am I? A small fish or a big fish?”
Police told the Express they were provided with information that fingered him as a suspect in the 2008 murder of 48-year-old Vincentian national Vincent Simmons, who was shot dead on Nimblett Street in Enterprise, Chaguanas.
He was also held on the suspicion of gang-related activities and for the stolen vehicles found in the basement of One Woodbrook Place on Tuesday night.
Robocop has been in and out of jail in the past ten years and had been charged on three separate occasions with kidnapping but was later acquitted by the court.
He was taken to the Woodbrook Police Station on Tuesday night.
Investigators said the 36-year-old woman, from Dam Road, Longdenville, was detained at the Central Police Station and could be charged with larceny of a motor vehicle.
They believe one of her relatives is the kingpin of a car-stealing racket and other nefarious activities.
Both of the suspects were taken away in separate vehicles following the near four-hour exercise that was spearheaded by Senior Superintendent John Martinez and included ASP Radcliffe Boxhill and Sgt Emrol Bruce, with several other intelligence officers.