VZCZCXRO0682
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHSP #0371/01 0831215
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241215Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6596
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT OF SPAIN 000371 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, INL/LP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM TD
SUBJECT:  TOBAGO CRIME AND NARCOTICS ISSUES:  LAID-BACK 
ATTITUDE MAY CAUSE PROBLEMS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  The smaller, resort island of 
Tobago is relatively safer than the larger Trinidad. 
Understaffing, short tours of duty and a resort 
mentality, however, create a potential gap in GOTT 
counter narcotics efforts in Tobago.  INL-funded 
computers are not being used because officers do not 
know what resources exist for their use.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Tobago is the smaller island of the twin 
island state of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).  While 
Trinidad houses T&T's industrial complex and natural 
gas, Tobago is home to the country's resort complexes 
and beaches.  Tobago is much more laid-back than 
Trinidad, but the danger is that this resort mentality 
seems to have seeped into the law enforcement agencies, 
which can compromise the relative safety of this 
island. 
 
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TOBAGO POLICE CHIEF SANGUINE ABOUT CRIME 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Political Officer and INL Assistant met with 
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) for Tobago, 
Michael Thomas.  On the brink of retirement, ACP Thomas 
provided a retrospective of changes he saw in the 
police force during his thirty-some years.  He painted 
a rosy picture of the crime situation on Tobago, in 
spite of rising crime rates countrywide.  He noted an 
increase in break-ins and petty thefts, some of which 
have recently affected British tourists, causing the UK 
to issue a stronger travel advisory about Tobago. 
Thomas opined that foreigners are too complacent about 
crime, and that when they go on vacation, even in a 
paradise like Tobago, they still need to be cautious. 
Additionally, ACP Thomas noted an upsurge in the number 
of narcotics "swallowers" who attempt to smuggle 
narcotics by ingesting containers filled with the 
substance. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Thomas noted a number of welcome developments 
in the police force, which included a greater emphasis 
on technology and training to improve the officers' 
effectiveness.  They enjoy close relations with other 
law enforcement agencies, and regularly conduct joint 
patrols with the military to serve as a deterrent on 
crime through their visible presence.  However, he 
pointed out that the force is hiring at below 
attrition, and that a number of senior officers are 
preparing to retire in the next few years due to 
mandatory retirement ages.  Noting that the forces are 
stretched already, Thomas lamented the difficulty he 
faced in getting reinforcements to Tobago should 
anything happen.  Tobago is simply not a priority for 
the police force as a whole given the much larger 
problems in Trinidad. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
CUSTOMS UNDERSTAFFED FOR EMERGING THREATS, LACKS SOPS 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Political Officer, INL Assistant and Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) Advisor also visited T&T 
Customs and Excise offices to examine INL-funded 
computer equipment.  Computers were installed in 2003 
at Crown Point International Airport, in downtown 
Scarborough (the capital of Tobago) and in 
Charlotteville (a yacht port on the northern tip of 
Tobago) to provide Internet communications among the 
offices, to establish a link with INTERPOL and to run 
customs-related software.  Customs officers offered 
ready access to the equipment, and even drove the 
embassy officers over the narrow, winding roads to 
Charlotteville. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Customs and Excise posts two preventative 
officers, who are responsible for screening outgoing 
passengers and packages, to Tobago for tours of between 
seven months and one year.  One officer noted that 
there is almost never a transition period, there is no 
documentation of standard operating procedures and 
incoming officers have to discover on their own what 
resources they have available.  The INL-funded 
equipment has been an unfortunate casualty of this 
relaxed approach by transitioning officers.  New 
officers at each station were unaware of the 
capabilities of the equipment and, in most cases, did 
 
PORT OF SP 00000371  002 OF 002 
 
 
not know the login for the computer.  One worker noted 
that he had not used the equipment because of the 
"strong warning" (saved as a message on the computer's 
wallpaper) that it was for official use only, and he 
did not want to make a mistake in using it.  Further, 
it seems that the Tobago House of Assembly (the 
island's semi-autonomous government) provided similar 
equipment at approximately the same time, raising 
questions about the need for the INL-funded computers. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Additionally, the customs officers expressed 
some frustration that there were only two preventative 
officers to cover the entire island, from Crown Point 
to Charlotteville.  Their primary focus is to prevent 
narcotics from transiting the airport.  However, they 
are aware of other potential issues, such as currency 
outflows that could indicate money laundering or other 
financial crimes that they cannot investigate with 
their current staffing.  Still, the officer praised 
their close collaboration with the police, who actually 
make most of the narcotics arrests based on information 
from the Customs officers. 
 
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TOBAGO DESERVES SPECIFIC ATTENTION 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Tobago is likely to increase in 
importance for counter narcotics issues as traffickers 
recognize that the island is less guarded than 
Trinidad.  So far, the airport has been the primary 
narcotics trafficking nexus in Tobago.  However, 
Tobago's coastline and numerous small bays and rocky 
islands present a tempting hideaway for traffickers. 
Counter narcotics and law enforcement assistance 
targeted for Tobago should take the resort mentality 
and short tours of duty into account to ensure that 
equipment is appropriate and that employees are fully 
trained in its use.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
AUSTIN