US authorities have made major inroads in going after gun traffickers responsible for sending weapons of war into TT which often end up in the hands of criminal gangs fighting for turf, leaving a trail of dead bodies.
New information points to charges arising out of last year's discovery of 30 firearms, including 15 high-powered assault rifles, 13 pistols and nearly a 1,000 rounds of assorted ammunition, at a Piarco bond, that is the focus of a multi-pronged probe by the Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the US Attorney General's Office and local law enforcement.
The disclosure was made during an interview at the US Embassy on September 27 with ATF's assistant regional attaché Michael Graham and Special Agent for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Randal Hill.
The discovery of the large cache of illegal weapons at the Piarco bond on April 22, 2021 is one of the largest shipments of illegal weapons through a legal port in recent times and there were two other significant busts later that month in Tacarigua and Couva, both suspected of being shipped from the US.
Local intelligence officers said at least three other shipments arrived at Piarco without detection and although they were tipped off about the April 22 incident, the local consignee was either alerted or spooked before he went to collect the barrels.
[caption id="attachment_978240" align="alignnone" width="1024"] ATF assistant regional attache Michael Graham chats with Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy Kirsten Miichener at Briar House, St Clair on September 27. - DARREN BAHAW[/caption]
Graham, who was posted to TT in May, said the ATF is able to pinpoint the locations where the illegal guns are bought in the US and that agency works closely with the Homeland Security to find out where they were shipped to help build criminal cases against the offenders.
In reference to the weapon seizure at Piarco, Hill said his agency has been working with TT law enforcement "to uncover who is actually sending those weapons and receiving those weapons."
"One of things that Homeland Security does is to try not to necessarily put the onus back on TT law enforcement, but we try to assist and identify who is actually bringing in firearms. The reason why I think this is important is because of this, hypothetically speaking if we could wave a magic wand and stop all the firearms coming from the US, then that means the people who are bringing in the firearms will go somewhere else to get them, whether it be Venezuela, whether it be any other country."
He said the HSI is trying to help deter other likely offenders by helping "TT law enforcement arrest people in TT who are bringing in illegal firearms."
Recent amendments in the US have increased the jail time for people convicted of gun trafficking crimes where convicts can face up to 25 years in federal prison.
"I have been working in the TT area for about a year and half and I believe in developing relationships. We want to make cases,
