Three detained in Trinidad and Tobago with $28 million cocaine haul

A British Virgin Islands businessman and two citizens of Saint Lucia are in custody in Trinidad and Tobago after police seized about 416.5 kilograms of cocaine valued at $28.7 million.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service said the 42-year-old businessman and the two Saint Lucian men, aged 38 and 37, were arrested during an operation in the Longdenville Police District in the north-central part of the Caribbean territory. Authorities have not released their names.

The operation began in the early hours of September 2 and ended the following day. Investigators were looking into the suspected concealment of illegal firearms and narcotics at facilities on Pokhor Road in Longdenville. Officers searched a residence, a warehouse and the surrounding land for firearms, drugs and other prohibited items.

Inside the warehouse, police found six large excavator tires mounted on rims. A subsequent examination revealed 420 rectangular packages hidden inside four of the tires. The seized packages were taken to the Special Investigations Unit in Port of Spain, while the three detainees were brought to Saint Joseph Police Station. Police said the businessman was arrested on suspicion of offenses linked to the seizure, but did not disclose the nature of his business or details of his alleged connection to the premises or the cocaine.