‘Big fish’ far removed

There is little consolation in the claim that the majority of this senseless mayhem is confined to the drug scene. It may be so but the victims are all human beings. Surely it is a severe indictment on our society when human beings are reduced to mere criminals.

It is this type of thinking that makes the “successful” criminal a respected member of society. The professional amoral practitioner of this form of deceit would also be an openly good person who donates large sums of money and time to good causes with all the publicity he can get. He is far removed from the scene of his operations.

One would assume that the multi-million dollar a day empire is rooted firmly in the slums of the nation - John John, Laventille, Beetham, Cumana, Jones Town are the infamous names that are associated with the killings that routinely occur in the drug trade. While it is doubtless that the drug wars are waged mercilessly in these areas, the facts are that the money involved in these drug transactions are beyond the pockets of these so-called “barons”.

We hear and read of mules being caught with several million dollars worth of cocaine at Piarco, these we assume are the tip of the iceberg.

There are untold millions being exported daily and the drug lords are immune to legal action being taken against them. Have you read of anyone being caught higher up as a result of these activities?

What is sad is the fact that the same trade has, as its spin off, a lucrative trade in the local market. There is a ready made market for the mind distorting commodities in the slums that riddle our country.

There is an attraction for the quick dollars that can be made by the judicious injections of funds in investments in the drug trade that lures the moderately wealthy to get involved. There is the bait of millions of “easy dollars” that can be made in this business. The spin off is massive.

I do not envy the governments’ job to control and restrict this criminal activity. It is not to be doubted that millions of taxpayers dollars are being spent in the attempt to stem the rising tide of crime that afflicts us, but what can we expect from this is yet to be seen.