Carenage seaman kidnapped

CARENAGE seaman Oscar Paul was kidnapped yesterday morning at gunpoint in front of his home and released about three hours after a quantity of United States and TT currency was paid, police said.

It is reported that Paul, 34, of Abbe Poujade Street, was attending to his Nissan vehicle around 12.40 am yesterday when three masked men, all armed with firearms and dressed in black clothing approached. Police sources said the three men came in a white vehicle.  The seaman is reported to have tried to escape, but was subsequently held. Investigators said Paul was later placed into the white vehicle, after which he was taken into a forested area off Macqueripe Road, Chaguaramas. The seaman was released just after 3 am yesterday in the Macqueripe district after his wife, Kathleen, paid a ransom.  Police said US$2,700 and TT$4,400 were paid for the man’s safe return.

According to the police, the money was dropped off at L’Anse Mitan Road, Carenage.  During an interview with the police, Paul said the men who snatched and held him kept asking him how much money he had and where it was being kept. Paul was not beaten during his brief time as a hostage and police said they don’t think the kidnapping was drug-related.  Rather, they said, they believe his movements were being monitored because he arrived home last Thursday. Contacted yesterday, Paul’s wife, Kathleen, told Newsday that they were okay but that they weren’t interested in publicity. “It is a very tense situation,” Kathleen said, adding that her husband was in good condition and that he was not physically assaulted.  Police also said that the couple have been threatened.

PCs James Roberts and Gaskin of the Carenage Criminal Investigations Department (CID) visited the scene and conducted investigations.  Officers of the Anti Kidnapping Squad (AKS) whose head is Sr Supt Gilbert Reyes were later informed of the kidnapping. Yesterday, officers revisited the Macqueripe area in a bid to locate clues that could assist them, but found nothing. The Paul kidnapping is the second in less than a week. Last Wednesday Santa Cruz businessman Anslem Choo Woon Chee was snatched from his Sam Boucaud home by armed men who also fired shots.

Up to late evening, AKS sources said the men who grabbed the 42-year-old father of two had not made contact with family members even though there were reports that a $2 million ransom has been asked for. Police yesterday continued to receive tips on the whereabouts of the businessman, but searches at homes in the Santa Cruz areas proved futile.  Choo Woon Chee is the proprietor of Archie’s Supermarket, Cantaro Village. AKS officers under Sr Supt Reyes are spearheading enquiries, along with members of the North Eastern Division.