Trinidad and Togabo Enacts new State of Emergency
Prime Minister Kamla Persad‑Bissessar has declared a nationwide State of Emergency (SoE), marking the second such decalaration in under a year since last December’s emergency lapsed in mid‑April.
The move comes after police uncovered a “coordinated and highly dangerous criminal network” operating within the prison system and plotting “assassinations, robberies, and kidnappings.”
Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro said months of intelligence gathering revealed that inmates had been using smuggled cellphones to exchange encrypted messages targeting senior law‑enforcement officers, judiciary members and state prosecutors.
“They were planning, actively so, to carry out assassinations, robberies, and kidnappings,” Guevarro told reporters, adding that “a criminal network” was plotting attacks on government institutions.
He confirmed that gang leaders housed in a maximum‑security prison have been “relocated to an unidentified facility” to disrupt their communications.
“There are persons who seem hellbent on facilitating the communication of these persons with the outside,” he said. “So by removing them from this environment and placing them in one where they are much more secure, I can feel rest assured that communication link is broken.”
Under the emergency regulations, police may search premises and make arrests without warrants, though no curfew has been imposed. As of 17 July, homicides stood at 214—down from 325 in the same period last year—but Attorney General John Jeremie warned of a resurgence in gang‑related killings and kidnappings. He said the SoE would remain “for as long as the security forces tell us that they need the additional legislative support.”
Prime Minister Persad‑Bissessar defended the move in a statement. She stressed that she “will not stand idly by for years, months, weeks or even days while a minority of illegally armed individuals act in concert to intimidate the people of Trinidad and Tobago.” The Prime Minister reiterated her government’s promise to address crime “as a matter of priority” and to safeguard citizens in their “homes, workplaces, schools, and places of worship.”
The main opposition Peoples National Movement (PNM) initially expressed concern about the abruptness of the annoncement by the police and the lack of a statement from government officials. Party members have also called out the hypocrisy of the Persad‑Bissessar led United National Congress (UNC) which criticised the last SoE when in opposition.
Former Police Commissioner Gary Griffith called the SoE “ridiculous,” arguing improved prison management could have sufficed and blamed corrupt prison staff for smuggled phones.
Within the first 24 hours, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) conducted 104 operations, 629 searches and 407 traffic stops, making 56 arrests and seizing six illegal firearms and 33 rounds of ammunition.
“These actions formed part of a strategic offensive targeting individuals affiliated with organised criminal syndicates and gangs operating across multiple divisions,” the TTPS said. They recovered pistols, a revolver, a shotgun and a rifle; tools “used by criminal networks to terrorise law‑abiding citizens,” the service noted.
The US Embassy in Port‑of‑Spain issued a security alert advising American citizens of increased police and military patrols. It reminded US personnel to carry identification at all times, cooperate with searches, avoid certain neighborhoods after dark, and enrol in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Programme for updates.
The business community has largely backed the emergency but called for sustainable solutions. The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce condemned “plans by criminals to undermine national security and endanger senior officials,” adding that “Given the grave threat identified, the TT Chamber supports the government’s decision to implement a SoE as an urgent and necessary measure to protect citizens and preserve national order.”
Baldath Maharaj, President of the Chaguanas Chamber, warned that if the plot were not “contained swiftly, this poses a direct threat not only to national security but to the social and economic stability of the country.”
At the Trade and Investment Convention, TTMA President Dale Parson said the SoE is “specific to a particular group of citizens in TT that are causing disruption. I think they are being proactive and taking the time to ensure that nothing drastic happens. This is a good thing.”
The Tobago House of Assembly also endorsed the measure. “While we support having the SoE as a decisive measure… we must point out that this is yet another opportunity for the government to have a radical response to those who are offensive to our democracy and our peace and our safety,” said Chief Secretary Farley Augustine.
The government has pledged regular updates on the emergency’s progress. If successful, the operation could signal more widespread used regionally for targeted, intelligence‑led interventions against organised crime without imposing broad curfews or restrictions. As officers press on with tactical operations and prison reforms, the country is divided on whether this decisive step will break the cycle of gang‑led violence gripping Trinidad and Tobago.