The forces behind TT’s underworld

THEY EXIST in communities throughout Trinidad and may be extending their reach into Tobago but their heaviest concentration is along the East-West Corridor. From Diego Martin to Arima and beyond, heavily armed criminal gangs are waging deadly wars for turf, drugs and even control of certain jobs. Led mainly by drug lords, the membership of these gangs includes criminal deportees from the United States who are introducing locals to new levels of brutality and sophistication in underworld activities. These include carrying out kidnapping as a new source of revenue, informed sources told Sunday Newsday.

Other members include ex-convicts whose criminal reputations are boosted by their stints in jail, teenaged school drop-outs and street kids. Criminal deportees and ex-convicts represent the inner sanctum of the gang. All others are regarded as associates, who must constantly demonstrate their loyalty and commitment to the gang and its leader by carrying out specific criminal acts. Criminal gangs can be identified by the fact that they have an identifiable organisation or hierarchy and either individually or collectively engage in antisocial, unlawful activities to further their social or economic status. Gang members “lime” together regularly, often invading bazaars and other social events in their communities to cause disruptions and intimidate patrons.

All criminal gangs in TT claim a specific location or territory and regularly use violence and murder to exert their claim over that particular area. According to investigations carried out by Sunday Newsday, a small number of these gangs have been around for decades with close connections to the illegal drug trade. However, the majority are less than five years old, with a proliferation of break-away factions adding to the  numbers in just the past year. Some gangs have names inspired by popular culture, such as G-Unit and Young and Restless. One well known, longstanding group, the Gambinos, has adopted the name of a well-known Mafia crime family in the United States.

However, most use names which identify their territory — Observatory Street Gang, Waterhole Gang, Cocorite Gang, Laventille Road Gang, Santa Cruz Gang, the Tunapuna-based East Zone Gang and the Pinto Road Trainline Gang in Arima. Most gang members, particularly leaders and their lieutenants, carry guns for protection and to execute rival gang members for real or imagined turf invasions and other wrongs. Revenge killings are aimed at any member of the rival gang, not necessarily the individual who committed the offence which triggered the retaliation. According to insiders, the recent upsurge in murders is due to a spate of revenge killings which has escalated into full-scale wars between rival gangs.

However, while murder is the gang activity attracting the most attention and concern throughout the country, it is just one of the many crimes regularly committed by gang members to generate revenue and expand the reach and influence of their underworld organisations. As a means of sending a warning or threat, gang members may target female friends or relatives of rivals for gang rape. This is also used to intimidate current or former girlfriends, well placed sources told Sunday Newsday. The main moneymaking activity for gangs is drug trafficking. This is one of the areas in which their strict hierarchy comes into play, since operatives are employed at various levels to facilitate the trafficking of cocaine and marijuana.

Usually, there is one member employed to collect the money for the drugs and another to make the delivery to the buyer. These jobs may be carried out by the same individual at illegal points of sale, such as drug dens (some of which are fronted by “legitimate” business places) and street corners. In both instances, at least two persons will be deployed in the vicinity as lookouts and security men to ensure a successful transaction.