Among the matters discussed by Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine and Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar earlier today were the effects of illegal drug trafficking and transnational crime. 

The visit and meeting earlier today occurred amid a US military build up in the Caribbean that consists of at least 15,000 troops and multiple warships, including the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier.

The US has claimed that this build up and the 21 lethal boat strikes carried out in the region by the US military since September which have thus far killed 82, are part of an effort to stymie the flow of drugs in the region, and its effect on American citizens.