Police in Trinidad and Tobago are conducting investigation into an incident last week in which a Grenada registered boat was hijacked by a group of six armed men and its occupants robbed on thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry.
The incident occurred in Trinidad waters as the Grenada boat was leaving the CARICOM jetty in Port-of-Spain for its trip back to the Spice Isle.
When this newspaper spoke with the owner of the boat, he did not want his name mentioned, as well as any picture of he or the vessel taken for security reasons.
According to the owner, he did not want to put his life at risk given the violent nature of things in Trinidad and Tobago at the moment.
However, he confirmed that six armed men in a dingy, dressed in army uniform, resembling that of the Trinidad and Tobago regiment stopped the vessel last Friday night at around 11.00 p.m as it was about to take-off for Grenada.
He said that at first he thought the men were from the Trinidad and Tobago army and saw no reason in not co-operating and allowing them onto the boat.
The boat owner said that he soon realised that the men were bandits when they came straight to him, called him by his name and asked to hand over the money.
"This was a set up. They knew who exactly they were coming to and to ask for money", he remarked.
The boatman stated that the crew members and a few passengers on board the vessel were searched and robbed of cash, jewelry and other personal items like cell phones. He said the incident has forced him to review his operations in Trinidad and Tobago waters.
In addition, he called on the Grenada government led by Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell to make a request of the Patrick Manning administration in Trinidad and Tobago to provide an escort service for local vessels when entering and leaving waters in the twin island republic.
He said the bandits are aware that trading vessels carry a certain amount of cash and would always be tempted to carry out armed attacks on them on the high seas.
