Business community welcomes FBI intervention

Following a meeting at Whitehall with Prime Minister Patrick Manning and National Security Minister Martin Joseph on Tuesday, Mueller said FBI specialists would be coming to assist police in investigating the bombings in Port-of-Spain and St James, and stemming the tide of kidnappings.

Mueller also said the bureau established an office in Trinidad in August and has no reason to believe that there are terrorist cells in this country.

In his September 28 Budget presentation in the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister said the FBI and Britain’s Scotland Yard would be establishing units in this country to help local law enforcement agencies deal with the crime problem.

Speaking in the Lower House on October 17, Manning said Government has a good idea who the mastermind behind the bombings is, and is gathering the necessary evidence required to bring "Mr Big" to justice.

"What we are doing now is that we are collecting our information and we are bringing to bear the best technical expertise available to the Government, which very shortly we will supplement with expertise from Scotland Yard and the FBI," he said.

TT Manufacturers Association (TTMA) president Paul Quesnel said he was happy that Mueller visited TT and hopes that the FBI would work "fast and furiously" with the Police Service to curb crime.

The San Juan Business Association (SJBA) welcomed Mueller’s visit and expressed hope that foreign law enforcement officers would receive "wide-ranging cooperation" from local authorities and be unfettered in their efforts to bring the perpetrators of several serious crimes in this country to justice.

The SJBA agreed with Mueller that the war against crime would not be won without the cooperation of the public in providing the police with the vital information they needed to bring down the criminal elements.

The association reminded the authorities that the public would only cooperate with them if they can prove to citizens that information given to them is kept confidential, and demonstrate their ability "to weed out elements that have corrupted the system." The SJBA added that while it welcomed foreign assistance in the war against crime, there remained the fundamental need to reform the Police Service and the authorities to demonstrate the political will and dexterity "to subdue the criminal elements if we are to bring control and order to our society."