THE search for Able Seaman Keiron Simon of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard has transitioned from a search-and-rescue operation to a search-and-recovery mission.

This confirmation came from National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds during a telephone interview yesterday. He said the decision to shift the operation was made by experts who had assessed the situation.

Last week, Simon was part of a team involved in a multinational drug bust in the waters between Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. The team had intercepted a vessel known as a “narco-sub”—a semi-submersible or low-profile craft operated by transnational drug traffickers.