Trinidad and Tobago imposes another state of emergency after uncovering plot to kill key officials

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — Trinidad and Tobago declared a new state of emergency Friday after authorities accused a criminal network operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions.

It's the second state of emergency to be declared in the twin-island republic in a matter of months. Last December, authorities took similar action citing concerns about gang violence. That state of emergency lasted until mid-April.

Police said that smuggled cell phones enabled those involved in the plot to exchange encrypted messages. Months of intelligence gathering led investigators to believe the targets included senior police officers, members of the judiciary and employees at the state prosecution office, police said. There were no particular threats to any politicians, police said.

“They were planning, actively so, to carry out assassinations, robberies, and kidnappings.” Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro said at a news conference. Police described those involved as "a coordinated and highly dangerous criminal network.”

Guevarro said the intelligence report prompted him to recommend that newly elected Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declare the emergency.

Gang leaders who were housed in a maximum-security prison in east Trinidad — where illegal possession of cellphones and other communication devices has long been a problem — have been relocated to an unidentified facility, he said, without providing any details.

“We have seen recent acts of kidnapping and homicides being perpetrated against our citizenry that we have been able to trace back to this organized crime syndicate,” Guevarro said.

Under the state of emergency, police can conduct searches and make arrests without a warrant. A curfew has not been put into effect.

Last year, the country of more than 1.4 million people reported 624 killings, its deadliest on record, according to police data. As of July 17, police said the number of killings this year stood at 214, a decline compared to 325 killings in the same period last year.