(Trinidad Guardian) Dozens of Venezuelan nationals who were attempting to enter Trinidad and Tobago illegally in two separate vessels, were intercepted by the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard (TTCG) during patrols carried out over the Christmas holiday weekend. They were eventually repatriated on Monday 27 December 2021.
An official statement issued by the Ministry of National Security reports that the interceptions were made in response to alerts from this country’s Coastal Radar System, part of the technology architecture of the Ministry’s border security operations.
According to the release, the first incident took place at approximately 12:05 am on 24th December 2021.
“One of the recently commissioned Cape Class Patrol Boats, the TTS Scarborough, was on patrol, when it detected a boat attempting to cross the border on the Southern Coast of Trinidad. A chase ensued and the vessel was intercepted approximately 3.5 Nautical Miles South of the village of Palo Seco. Twenty Venezuelan nationals were detained in this incident along with an unnamed pirogue,” the release reported.
“The second incident occurred at 12:36 pm later that same day, when a Trinidad-registered pirogue was detected crossing the border close to Chacachacare Island in the North-West of Trinidad. The vessel was intercepted, and it was discovered that there were 23 Venezuelan nationals on board,” the release said.
The Ministry explains that officials from the Trinidad and Tobago Immigration Division were called in, and “through coordination with the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, all of the detained persons, along with some others who were already in custody, were processed and a repatriation exercise carried out safely on the morning of December 27, 2021.”
