Trinidad and Tobago has declared a state of emergency following a surge of violent killings over the weekend, escalating what has already been a record-breaking year for murders in the Caribbean nation.
Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced the emergency measures on Monday, granting police expanded powers to search individuals and premises without warrants and detain suspects for up to 48 hours. Notably, the state of emergency does not include a curfew.
The decision follows a deadly weekend, with multiple shootings pushing the 2024 murder toll to 623—the highest figure in over a decade of police records. December alone has seen 61 homicides, making it one of the most violent months in recent history.
Among the incidents was a shooting outside a police station involving a high-caliber automatic weapon, and a mass shooting in Port of Spain less than 24 hours later that left five dead and one injured.
Authorities have attributed much of the violence to gang-related activity and the increasing use of high-powered firearms.
“There is very little chance of survival due to the velocity and the caliber of these weapons,” Acting Attorney General Stuart Young said.
Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds added that 15 people were killed in gun-related incidents over the past week alone.
Trinidad and Tobago’s murder rate is among the highest in the Caribbean, alongside Jamaica and Haiti, with violent deaths in the region nearly three times the global average, according to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). The country’s crime wave is closely tied to gang activity and narcotics trafficking.
Efforts are underway to collaborate with US authorities to address the flow of illegal firearms into the Caribbean. Between 2018 and 2022, more than 7,000 firearms were recovered in the region, nearly three-quarters of which were traced back to the US.
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