(Trinidad Express) – Toilet paper and fast food are being traded for guns between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, Asst Commissioner of Police Surajdeen Persad has said.
The illegal barter has been fuelled by economic woes affecting Venezuela, Persad said.
The former deputy director of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA), made the statements as he addressed a police town meeting at the Tunapuna Community Centre on Friday night.
Persad said the number one priority for the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) for this year is to reduce firearm related violence in the country.
In order to accomplish this the police need to remove firearms from the streets, he said.
Last year, Persad said, 690 firearms were seized and between 2011 to 2016 the Police Service’s Northern Division seized 576 firearms.
