Barbados Denies Abduction of TT National But Admits Not All Procedures Followed

The Barbados government denies there was any abduction of a Trinidadian national who was returned to Trinidad and Tobago to face firearm related charges, but admits not all procedures were followed.

The Trinidad and Tobago government has filed an appeal against a Trinidad High Court ruling which found that the detention and transporting of firearms dealer Brent Thomas from Barbados to Trinidad on a Regional Security System aircraft constituted an “abduction”, that his constitutional rights had been breached and that his arrest and detention were therefore unconstitutional.

Trinidad Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has demanded an explanation over the matter and Barbados Attorney General Dale Marshall requested a report from the Barbados Police Commissioner.

Mr. Marshall, in a ministerial statement delivered in the House of Assembly today, outlined the conclusions of that report while insisting that neither he nor Prime Minister Mia Mottley had any knowledge of or involvement in the Brent Thomas affair until it broke in the Trinidad press about a week ago.

He told the House that last year the Barbados police had been contacted by the Transnational Organised Crime Unit of the Trinidad Police Service and the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security in relation to Mr. Thomas for whom several police warrants had been issued for alleged firearm trafficking in Trinidad and the region.

The attorney general insists there was no abduction but concedes all required procedures were not followed.