$10M COCAINE IN MAIL

SEVERAL workers of the Piarco Air Services were yesterday questioned in connection with a multi-million dollar cocaine find at the Piarco International Airport, high-level police sources told Newsday. The cocaine was found in mail bags around 9 am Wednesday and weighed approximately 56 kilogrammes, which police sources said has an estimated street value of $10,080,000. Sources at the Organised Crime and Narcotic Unit (OCNU) told Newsday that the estimated street value of one kilogramme of cocaine is $180,000, but that the wholesale price is $28,000 per kilogramme. The cocaine, was discovered during a random operation carried out by OCNU officers and members of the Customs Interdiction Unit. Police said some of the cocaine was in envelopes, while some was in parcels wrapped with tape. The whole lot was then placed in mail bags and at the time of the discovery was already packed on trolleys to be loaded on various planes destined for the United Kingdom and the United States. 

Police sources believe Canada was another intended destination. When contacted, a female worker at Piarco Air Services confirmed the cocaine seizure, but said that no “directors in managerial positions were available to speak to the media at this time.” Police said they had no idea where the cocaine came from in Trinidad, but said they did not believe it was linked to the million-dollar cocaine find along the Mayaro and Manzanilla beaches in August. However, police sources said they were watching with growing concern the amount of illegal drugs that has been seized at Piarco. They referred to instances where cocaine has been found in steelpans and fish containers. While several people have been questioned in connection with the latest cocaine find, police said no one had been charged up to late evening. Investigations are continuing.