Spanish-speaking pirates rob fishermen

TWO boat engines, tanks of gasoline and a quantity of freshly-caught carite, were stolen by armed Spanish-speaking pirates from five fishermen who were in two boats fishing the seas off Colombus Channel, South Trinidad on Sunday.

The first to be attacked was the “Crystal Clear,” captained by Andy Mohan, 29, and Premchan Ramnath, 37. “Around 9.30 am, four men approached us in a pirogue pointing guns at us. We knew they were Venezuelans, because they were speaking Spanish. The men boarded our boat and took the engine, a pan of gas, knives, torchlight and one hundred pounds of carite we had just caught,” Mohan told Newsday. He said the pirates then forced them to lie flat on the boat while they (the pirates) boarded their pirogue which sped off. Mohan told Newsday, as they were drifting out into the open sea, they were forced to use bucket covers and a piece of board to paddle in an effort to stay near the shoreline. It was not until 7 am yesterday, that they were rescued by three men in the vessel “Reggae Ann” and taken to the Erin Police Station where they lodged a report of the incident which left them $20,000 poorer.

In the second incident, around 10 am on Sunday, 36-year-old Kelly Ramnath, captain of the boat “Kelly,” crew members Allan Heeralal and Hollis Campbell, were approached and attacked by four Spanish-speaking pirates, who police believe, were responsible for the attack on Mohan and Premchan Ramnath. Kelly Ramnath told Newsday they were robbed of the boat’s engine, gasoline, fish and food before being left to drift. He said they were rescued around 7.30 am on Monday by the “Reggae Ann.” Kelly estimated his losses at $25,000. While the fishermen were thanking God for preserving their lives and bringing them back home safely to their families, they appealed to Government to institute Coast Guard patrols to protect local fishermen from pirates.