Venezuelan making a drop-off of drugs or guns on a beach in Guapo last

Radar system was credited with detecting a Venezuelan
making a drop-off of drugs or guns on a beach in Guapo last
week, but the contraband was missing and the crew abandoned
the boat when Coast Guard vessels tried to make an
interception. The three-member crew was not found and likely
made it back to Venezuela on another fishing boat, police
The radar installation on the San Fernando Hill that forms
part of the State's $100 million 360-degree coastal
surveillance system went dead again four days ago and has
become a roost for corbeaux.
All day yesterday, the birds, which feed on carrion, flew
around or nestled on the facility. But the Ministry of
National Security has refused to comment on what some believe
to be a malfunction of the system that Government considers
critical in the fight against drug and gun smugglers.
Communications specialist with the Police Service, Wendy
Campbell, referred queries to the ministry. When the radar
went down recently, the ministry had promised to send a
release on the matter. That release was not forthcoming up to
yesterday. Communications specialist with the Special Anti
Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT), Ucill Cambridge,
meanwhile said the radar was not its responsibility.
The Express reported earlier this month that the radar in San
Fernando went on the blink last October, and technicians
replaced components during a day-long repair job.
The radar, which must rotate on a pedestal in order to conduct
surveillance, has been beset with problems since then, the
Express learned.
Technicians returned yesterday afternoon to the installation,
which is part of a radar network set up around Trinidad and
Tobago to monitor maritime traffic. No one wanted to answer
questions yesterday about what was broken in the facility on
the Hill.
Insiders said that the technicians were trained by Israeli
experts to maintain the system, but there were questions about
how much they could do. The Advanced Coastal Surveillance
Radar (ACSR) was bought from Israel's Aircraft Industries Ltd.
Both Prime Minister Patrick Manning and National Security
Minister Martin Joseph said the radar system was key in the
fight against guns and drugs-fuelled violent crimes.
Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB)
officers have also disputed the statements of PNM party
chairman John Donaldson that the radar was up and running and
responsible for a recent big bust. The bust was made in Erin
and police recovered more than $1 million in marijuana, guns
and military uniforms smuggled in from South America.
Information about the contraband came from tips and
surveillance work by Trinidad's south coast, said police.
OCNFB sources have pointed to the large amount of cocaine
being seized from drug mules at the Piarco International
Airport as proof that cocaine smuggling remained high.
Customs and Excise officers told the Express that there
continued to be a steady stream of South American sex workers
landing by boat on Trinidad's west coast, and of a growing
problem where Africans, and recently Vietnamese, were being
smuggled by fishing boat from Guyana into Trinidad, lured by
the promise of construction jobs.