(Trinidad Guardian) Police and members of the Customs and Excise Division have targeted local agents involved in the transportation of diesel and contractors who own heavy machinery as purportedly being at the centre of a high-level probe involving a billion-dollar diesel scam. Investigators said information reaching them has identified several “big names,” some of whom own several fleet of equipment in central and south Trinidad. Senior officers have also complied a list of some 30 T&T boats believed to be key players in the diesel scam.
Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine has confirmed the list, saying he was also forwarded with a copy. “Most of the boats identified on the list are locally flagged,” the minister said. “It is an industry where the country stood to lose close to $1 billion per year…This is a very grave problem we’re facing.” Within the last two weeks, the Coast Guard intercepted four vessels, including trawlers, believed to be used for bunkering. But Ramnarine said this represented just the tip of the iceberg. “This is just the tip, but we are constantly chipping away at it,” he said.
“I myself drive around incognito and noticed certain things from which I have gathered a wealth of information which is also engaging the attention of the various law enforcement bodies.” He said one area identified to be heavily involved in the diesel racket was Brickfield. “I have been getting a lot of reports from that area from concerned persons,” Ramnarine said. “I was also told that a contraption found in Sea Lots for illegally pumping diesel onto foreign boats also existed in Brickfield, but I’m not certain if that is currently the case.” He said in his quest to fully comprehend the extent of the racket, he recently held lengthy discussions with former government ministers and key players in the energy sector.
“I have tried to understand where was the starting point to fully analyse the problem,” the minister said. “This problem wasn’t prevalent in the 80s…It wasn’t prevalent in the 90s. “This started in the 2000s and there is a clear relationship between this trade and the price of oil. “This trade is driven by economics.” Admitting that the Government needed to re-examine the legislation, Ramnarine said that matter was being urgently addressed to pave the way for stiffer penalties. He said one immediate measure that the Government was seeking to implement was to regularise the sale of diesel to ensure people bought only what they needed.
The minister said information relayed to him was that there was haemorrhaging from major diesel retailers. “We have information to believe there is haemorrhaging from Unipet and from NP and we have also heard about Petrotrin as well,” Ramnarine said. He said locals paid TT$1.50 per litre for diesel, while the price for foreigners stood at TT$6. Coast Guard sources said the average price diesel was illegally sold to foreigners was US$5 per litre. The stumbling block, however, police maintained, was acquiring the evidence to lay charges since, according to law, the perpetrators must be caught in the illegal act of bunkering.
Pirogue operators, police added, were also key players in the illegal diesel chain. Deputy Police Commissioner in charge of Anti-Crime Operations Jack Ewatski described the illegal sale of diesel as a very serious concern to the Police Service and one that engaged the full attention of his charges. “This matter is being investigated with the goal of identifying all persons involved,” Ewatski assured.
Local boat builders in diesel racket
So lucrative was the illegal diesel trade that local boat builders were being paid hefty sums to reconstruct fishing pirogues to contain large storage facilities. On Tuesday last, Coast Guard members intercepted a 38-foot pirogue with a black hull outfitted with three storage compartments. Public relations officer of the T&T Coast Guard, Lieutenant Kirk Jean-Baptiste, said this was the first time that such a vessel was intercepted in the waters of T&T and it was believed the boat was locally manufactured.
Jean-Baptiste said such boats could hold an average of 5,000 gallons of diesel. “The illegal diesel business is very lucrative and it’s growing,” he said. “From what we believe, diesel is resold to fishermen from the neighbouring islands and in some instances the local fishermen would meet the foreigners at the maritime border.” He said information gathered by the Coast Guard was that nationals of Venezuela, Grenada, Barbados, and as far as Colombia benefited from the illegal diesel trade.
