Guyanese held by T&T on two vessels transporting illegal diesel

(Trinidad Express) Two vessels, camouflaged to look like fishing trawlers, have been seized in the Gulf of Paria carrying 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Though the boats had large metal fishing cages stacked on the stern, the entire lower deck was configured and customised to hold large amounts of fuel. One boat had a false bottom and a valve fitted into the lower partition which Coast Guard officials believe was used to pump out the smuggled fuel.

Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine was attending the IBC annual Energy Caribbean Conference at the Hilton Trinidad, when he announced that he had to leave to see “what was happening in Staubles Bay”.

He subsequently met with Comptroller of Customs and Excise, Fitzroy John, Coast Guard Commander Hiram Mohammed and Coast Guard Public Relations Officer Lieutenant Kirk Jean-Baptiste at Staubles Bay, Chaguaramas.

Though the vessels were intercepted last Thursday, Ramnarine and John only toured the boats yesterday.

Jean-Baptiste said Coast Guard officials became suspicious when they noticed how low the vessel was sitting in the water.

“Suspicions were also raised when the (Coast Guard) Captain boarded and noticed that the vessel reeked of fuel. There was limited fishing equipment and no bait on board the vessel,” he said.

“What was even more alarming was there were four foreigners on board without proper paper work or documentation,” Jean-Baptiste said.

“The whole boat is a tanker,” Ramnarine said.

“What is clear is that the vessel has been modified and its been modified for the transportation of diesel in bulk. We also confirmed that there was a hydrocarbon substance on the vessel that is contained in these modified compartments,” Ramnarine said.

He said the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) was taking away samples to test what exactly those substances were.

“Fuel subsidy has been a great concern to this Government. This year’s subsidy is somewhere in the region on $4 billion. We will be looking to really make a significant dent in the fuel subsidy by dealing with the illegal trade in fuel.

“Based on what I have seen, somebody would have done quite a lot of work to have modified these vessels. That will form part of the investigation,” he said.

One vessel was discovered near Point Lisas just before 8 a.m and the second was seized an hour later in the waters near Claxton Bay. Both vessels were manned by a crew of three and all six men were held for questioning.

A source inside the Energy Ministry revealed that the non-nationals were from Guyana.

John said a lot of information still had to be collected before the men could be charged. He said there was no evidence linking this latest find to the massive diesel find off Sea Lots, Port of Spain last month.

“But the investigations are still underway,” he said, adding that there should be some answers within the week. A senior official at National Petroleum said the subsidised diesel is bought at $1.50 per litre and sold for $5 on the open market. He said someone was pocketing $3.50 per litre every time they sold subsidised diesel.