The British High Com­mis­sion is stand­ing by the find­ings con­tained in its Coun­try Pol­i­cy and In­for­ma­tion Note (CPIN) on Trinidad and To­ba­go, which es­ti­mat­ed that 186 gangs were op­er­at­ing in this coun­try in 2023.

In re­sponse to ques­tions from Guardian Me­dia, the High Com­mis­sion de­fend­ed the method­ol­o­gy be­hind the re­port, say­ing its CPINs are com­piled us­ing ev­i­dence from a broad range of sources, in­clud­ing rep­utable me­dia or­gan­i­sa­tions, lo­cal and in­ter­na­tion­al bod­ies, hu­man rights or­gan­i­sa­tions and the UK’s For­eign, Com­mon­wealth and De­vel­op­ment Of­fice.

It said the re­ports are sub­ject to con­tin­u­ous re­view and are as­sessed against es­tab­lished stan­dards for coun­try-of-ori­gin in­for­ma­tion.