THREE FOREIGN suspects, held in connection with an estimated $175 million (US$25 million) cocaine bust in Portugal that originated from TT, have been placed in protective custody, according to the Public Prosecutors Office in Portugal.

News of the significant drug bust was shared in a media release by the US Embassy on June 23, and highlighted a joint operation by US DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agents in four countries – TT, Portugal, Denmark and Spain – as well as officers assigned to the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU), a vetted police unit operating out of the Ministry of Homeland Security, other officers who were part of a DEA training programme under the Vetted Unit of the TTPS and the Seaport Cooperation Project (Seacop). The latter is a collaborative initiative with the European Union to fight illicit maritime trafficking.

“This is a major win for the United States and Trinidad and Tobago in our security co-operation to stop the illicit narcotics trade and protect our borders to make our communities safer," US Chargé d’Affaires Dr Jenifer Neidhart de Ortiz said in the release.