7 held in weekend anti-crime exercises

One pistol and an ammunition magazine were also found during the exercises, which were conducted by officers of the Western Division Task Force, between 11 am on Saturday and 1 am on Sunday 21.

According to a police release, a 32-year-old man was charged after he was found in possession of 19 grammes of marijuana at 1.15 pm on Saturday along Dibe Road in St James, while a 19-year-old man was was held at 11.30 pm that same day, along Bagatelle Road, for possession of 9.5 grammes of cocaine.

Officers also went to Scorpion Road, Carenage, at 12.15 am on Sunday where they searched a bushy area and found a plastic bag containing a Walther P99 pistol and magazine with three rounds of nine-millimetre ammunition.

No arrest was made in connection with that find.

In the Blanchisseuse district, an anti-crime exercise was conducted between 3.30 pm and 6.15 pm on Friday. The exercise was supervised by Cpl Francis and included officers of the Blanchisseuse Police Station. During the exercise, PC Gervais executed a search warrant at the home of a suspect at Paria Main Road, La Fillette Village.

Officers discovered 85.5 grammes of marijuana and 8.3 grammes of cocaine in several small clear plastic packages.

The drugs were seized and conveyed to the Blanchisseuse Police Station. PC Gervais is continuing enquiries.

In San Juan, between 1 pm and 5 pm on Friday, officers of the North Eastern Division Criminal Investigations Department, conducted an exercise in an area off Alcan Boatyard, Carenage. During the exercise, they found a black plastic bag containing a quantity of cocaine. A 42-year-old man, described by police as a habitual offender in Western Division, was arrested and charged in connection with the find.

This exercise was spearheaded by Ag ASP Sooker and supervised by Insp Maraj.

The man was due to appear before a Port-of- Spain magistrate yesterday.

In Port-of-Spain Division, at 11.45 am on Friday, Cpl Ghent and officers from the Inter- Agency Task Force (IATF) Operation HOPE were on mobile patrol duty along Espinet Street, Laventille when WPC Roberts stopped and searched a 20-year-old man who was found with a bag containing 43 smaller bags each containing compressed marijuana.

The man was taken to the Besson Street Police Station where he was processed and charged by WPC Roberts with possession of 42 grammes of marijuana.

He was scheduled to appear in court yesterday.

In another exercise, between 7 pm Friday and 1 am Saturday, officers from the IATF Fort Chacon Base, IATF Duncan Street Police Post and IATF Chafford Court Base, under the supervision of Ag Insp Williams, conducted an exercise at the corner of Piccadilly Street and Laventille Road, Laventille.

The exercise led to two persons being arrested.

One of them, a 31-year-old woman was charged for possession of seven grammes of marijuana, while a 50-year-old man was arrested and charged for possession of an apparatus used to smoke cocaine.

The officers later went to an abandoned site at Piccadilly Street where during a search, a black bag was found containing 31 grammes of marijuana. No one was arrested in connection with this find.