(Trinidad Express) A Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) constable who has been under suspicion for human trafficking in this country for years has been detained and charged with the crime in Venezuela.
Law enforcement officials have confirmed that the constable, who has been an officer for 20 years, was apprehended in late April after handing over two Indian nationals in Venezuela to a known coyote.
A coyote is someone who smuggles immigrants from Mexico over the United States border.
Sources said the Indian nationals were taken to Venezuela by boat on April 25 after paying the police constable “thousands” of dollars.
The constable is known in the underworld by the alias of a popular local biscuit brand.
The task of the coyote is to transport the citizens from Venezuela through Colombia, Mexico and, finally, the United States.
Sources said that following the meeting, the police officer was detained and subsequently charged with human trafficking in Maracaibo where he is currently imprisoned.
Someone blew the whistle on the Trinidadian police constable while he was in Venezuela, sources said.
A Sunday Express investigation, which started in 2019, found that the constable has been under watch following accusations that he was involved in the trafficking of Venezuelan women in South Trinidad for the purpose of human trafficking.
“One of the girls in question that he had allegedly trafficked and locked in a house in Debe and made to work as a sex slave was later sent back to Venezuela, and she was afraid to give a statement and so he couldn’t be charged,” a senior police officer told the Sunday Express.
When questioned about his alleged involvement in human trafficking by the Sunday Express in 2019, the police constable, who had previously been suspended due to a domestic issue, denied any wrongdoing.
The constable was sent to the Emergency Response Patrol (ERP) in the Northern Division when he returned from suspension, according to senior police officers.
It wasn’t until late last year that he was moved back to the ERP in the Southern Division.
He then went on vacation in February of this year and was scheduled to return to work in mid-June.
He was however arrested in April in Venezuela.
The Sunday Express obtained a hand-written letter, dated May 19, 2023, in which the police constable wrote to a friend called “Barry”, asking for money to attend to his needs while in the Venezuelan prison.
It said, “Good day…(Barry). This is (cop gives his nickname). I am locked up in Maracaibo Venezuela charged with human trafficking. I am in plenty problem. I need your help I am not allowed any communication, Barry the person who would contact you is the wife of a person who I am with in jail.
“I need you to help me with little money $200 US to buy food in here, they are not giving nothing. I have to stay here for 2 1/2 months. The lady would send her account and she would buy things for me, also keep in contact with Bombay and Avalon, I think the lawyer would have contacted you, don’t give the lawyer anything pls, Pls organise, I would keep in contact the same way.”
The police constable then made reference to the two Indian nationals that he had allegedly trafficked from Trinidad to Venezuela, saying, “Barry pls tell me if the boys reach safe, let the lady know she would inform me. Again brother I need your help $200 US to the account as soon as possible, Sunday is visiting day so I’ll get my foodstuffs.”
In ending the letter, the police constable also made an impassioned plea for his friend to contact his daughter on a number he provided. “Also my daughter phone number is…pls send a message to her, they don’t know anything. Thanks again brother.” (signs his real name).
He also gave the telephone contact for the Venezuelan woman for “Barry” to call and also an e-mail address so the money can be sent to her to assist him.
The Sunday Express tried to find out when the constable’s next court date is expected, but at least three Venezuelan sources were unable to obtain this information.
Senior homicide investigators informed the Sunday Express that based on information they have received, they are certain the police constable in Venezuela can help them with their homicide investigation into the death of Debe businessman Earle Samsoodeen, 40, who was shot and killed outside his home on April 25, the same day the constable departed for Venezuela.
Samsoodeen was about to open the gate to his home, located on the same premises as that of the Calvary Temple Worship Centre, in Debe Trace when he was ambushed and shot several times around 11.05 p.m.
He died an hour later at the San Fernando General Hospital.
Senior investigators with knowledge of the investigation told the Sunday Express that Samsoodeen’s murder was “not robbery related”, but there was a much larger picture.
“What we were told was that Samsoodeen and a group of businessmen had approximately $5 million in old hundred dollar bills, and this police constable now in a Venezuelan jail had told Samsoodeen that he had the link in Central Bank to get the money changed,” said a senior investigator.
“The constable and his associates got the money changed and then decided they had no intention of giving back the money, so they decided to bump off who they had to,” he said.
The constable is said to be associated with two well-known firearms/drug offenders, and it is alleged based on his (the constable’s) instructions, these two men followed Samsoodeen and shot him outside his home.
Police have been searching for one of the men, originally from Debe, who went into hiding.
For several months, the man has been posting pictures of himself on social media, showing his face and wielding high-powered weapons.
His initials are VM, and police believe he was the “triggerman” in Samsooden’s murder.
According to officers, VM is also the brother of a policewoman who is currently assigned to the Southern Division after having previously worked at the Strategic Services Agency (SSA).
