(Trinidad Guardian) As Chinese businesses continue to be targeted, police say one of the barriers to catching the culprits is that they are not getting certain information.
Over the past few months, there have been several videos shared on social media of robberies and even murders of Chinese nationals at their business places. Yesterday, there were two viral videos being shared, appearing to be robberies at Chow Long Supermarket, Marabella and Best Fortune House Chinese Restaurant, Cunupia, both occurring on Monday night.
While police are investigating the Cunupia robbery, Southern Division police said they have not received a report of a robbery at Chow Long Supermarket. A senior officer said while they have to be careful about the information shared on social media, he said investigators ned more evidence to help solve the cases. The video shows four gunmen entering the supermarket, with one of them kicking and holding up a worker. Meanwhile, another bandit empties the cash register and steals other items.
In Cunupia, police reported that 8.35 pm Monday four armed bandits walked into the Chinese restaurant along Monroe Road and pointed guns at the customers. They ordered the customers to sit with their hands in the air, while their handbags and pockets were being emptied.
The owner was also ordered to hand over the day’s sale. Surveillance cameras at the restaurant showed a customer attempting to stop the gunmen by throwing a chair at them, but he was kicked and beaten on the ground. As the bandits ran off with the stolen cash and cell phones, they were chased by the customer. Just last Thursday, a Chinese restaurant along the Eastern Main road, Arouca was robbed by armed by armed bandits. No one had been held.
Vice president of the China Society of T&T, Joseph Tai Chew said with the frequent robberies and recent murders of Chinese business owners, many Chinese nationals are fearful of being targets of crime.
“What makes them easy targets is that they move by themselves. Whenever they (bandits) rob a Chinese, they find money in their pockets, big amount of money too. I see in the papers people get robbed of thousands of dollars. What are they doing with all that money in their pockets? When the robbers see that in the papers, how many thousands of dollars, this will encourage more bandits to rob Chinese,” Tai Chew said.
He advised Chinese business owners to either hire security officers to escort them from their business to their homes and ensure their surroundings are well lit. However, he said crime in not subjected to only Chinese nationals but everyone. He said because the drug trade was becoming more rampant in Trinidad, everyone is at risk. He blamed the deportation of criminals from the US and England for the continuous crime.
