Trinidad police seize nearly TT$500K in cocaine at Piarco International Airport

Trinidad and Tobago police arrested one suspect and seized nearly half a million Trinidad and Tobago dollars worth of cocaine during an anti-crime operation at Piarco International Airport over the weekend.

In a statement issued Monday, law enforcement officials said the cocaine—valued at TT$473,932 (approximately US$75,000)—was discovered concealed inside a vehicle on the airport compound during a joint operation by officers from the Northern and North Central Divisions.

“The search of a vehicle resulted in the officers finding one bag containing a quantity of cocaine with an estimated street value of TT$473,932.80,” the statement read. “One suspect was arrested in connection with the find.”

The anti-crime sweep extended to the surrounding areas of the airport, where several other vehicles and individuals were searched.

The operation formed part of a wider set of weekend crackdowns across multiple divisions that led to the discovery of several illegal weapons. Among the items seized was an AR-15 assault rifle found loaded with a magazine of 14 rounds of 5.56 ammunition. That weapon was recovered in a bushy area in Freeport, west central Trinidad, after officers acted on intelligence.

In separate searches, police recovered another pistol with one round of ammunition in Diego Martin, and a third firearm along with five rounds of ammunition and a stash of cannabis hidden in an abandoned structure in Santa Cruz, on the outskirts of Port of Spain.

Police say investigations into all seizures are ongoing as authorities ramp up their efforts to crack down on illegal drugs and firearms in high-traffic zones, including the country’s main international airport.