BY COREY CONNELLY

The Government’s strategy for tackling crime includes a policy to remove all illicit firearms from the possession of criminals in the society, Minister in the Ministry of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds reiterated last Friday.

“This comprises a number of land-based operations, focusing on drug blocks and areas of known gang-related criminal activity, targeting police divisions responsible for gun-related crime, more specifically, with the highest incidence of violence,” he said.

Hinds said western Port-of-Spain and north-eastern divisions were the key areas in which illicit activities were conducted.

He was speaking in Parliament during a motion on the adjournment brought by Chaguanas MP Manohar Ramsaran regarding the Government’s handling of the crime menace.

Ramsaran had raised the issue against the backdrop of gruesome killings that had occurred—particularly in central Trinidad—over the past few months.

He cited the unsolved shooting of forklift driver Shazad Mohammed as well as the grisly murders of Sean Luke and Amy Annamunthodo.

Hinds, the Laventille East/Morvant MP, told the House that the plan included efforts to interrupt the illicit flow of firearms into the country.

This, he said, involved a heightened proactive approach among border controls aimed at reducing the inflow of drugs and guns.

“Very often, the gun comes to protect the drugs and that causes things,” Hinds said.

The minister recalled that of the 17,385 crimes which were reported last year, 625 were committed in central Trinidad.

To stem this trend, Hinds said that apart from an increased police presence in the area, three mobile units, six dozen foot patrols, two uniformed mobile patrols, four standing patrols and 12 members of the Laventille-based Inter-Agency Task Force were deployed to the area.

He said a Guard and Emergency contingent had also been sent to the district.