Eliz­a­beth Gon­za­les

To­ba­go Cor­re­spon­dent

While gun vi­o­lence con­tin­ues to be a grow­ing con­cern in To­ba­go, high-pow­ered guns are not a ma­jor is­sue for the is­land’s po­lice, ac­cord­ing to ASP Col­lis Hazel.

Hazel con­firmed to Guardian Me­dia that the ma­jor­i­ty of mur­ders in 2023 have in­volved il­le­gal firearms. How­ev­er, he point­ed out that since Trinidad and To­ba­go does not man­u­fac­ture firearms, it is clear that these weapons are en­ter­ing the is­land at a rapid pace due to our porous bor­ders.

And while there has been an in­crease in the num­ber of guns re­cov­ered so far this year, Hazel is re­lieved that high-pow­ered guns are not favoured by the crim­i­nals op­er­at­ing in To­ba­go. He be­lieves that if they were more pop­u­lar, the is­land’s mur­der rate would reach a record high, as shoot­ings with such weapons tend to be fa­tal.

“Most of what has been found in the To­ba­go space have been pis­tols. We have not seen the pro­lif­er­a­tion of high-pow­ered guns. While there may be ev­i­dence of oth­er ri­fle types, what we have been see­ing show­ing up is pis­tols,” Hazel said.

“In this area, we have seen the pro­lif­er­a­tion of too many firearms on the is­land. And, of course, like any­thing else, we looked at the fact that we do not man­u­fac­ture firearms with­in Trinidad and To­ba­go, how­ev­er, firearms are turn­ing up here and by way of our porous bor­ders.”

Of­fi­cers on the is­land have so far re­cov­ered 25 il­le­gal guns for the year. All of the mur­ders record­ed in To­ba­go this year in­volved the use of firearms.

The is­land’s first mur­der vic­tim, Nigel Sandy, of Ply­mouth, was shot dead near his home in Feb­ru­ary. Weeks lat­er, Shas­tri Boodan was found dead with a gun­shot wound to the head.

The is­land’s third and fourth mur­der vic­tims – Lynch Bovell and Don­neil Thomas – were shot and killed days apart in April.

Less than a month lat­er, on May 3, pen­sion­er Don­neil Thomas, of Glo­den Lane, was shot dead. Six days af­ter, gun­men killed Ha­keem Thomas in Mt Pleas­ant.

Den­son Turn­er, of Les Coteaux, be­came the is­land’s sev­enth mur­der vic­tim in June af­ter gun­men cor­nered him and shot him.

Last month, To­ba­go’s eighth and ninth mur­der vic­tims, Scar­bor­ough ven­dor Al­li­son Bal­lah and Ma­son Hall stu­dent Pre­cious Wills, we’re both shot dead in sep­a­rate in­ci­dents.