Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar has ac­cused the Op­po­si­tion PNM of stand­ing in the way of ef­forts to dis­man­tle the coun­try’s drug trade, claim­ing the par­ty’s re­sis­tance to 30 pro­posed joint po­lice and army posts is pro­tect­ing what she de­scribed as its “lo­cal drug mafia friends.”

Per­sad-Bisses­sar was re­spond­ing to con­cerns raised by Op­po­si­tion Leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les over the ini­tia­tive, which the Gov­ern­ment in­tends to roll out over the next four months. Ques­tion­ing the PNM’s op­po­si­tion to the plan, the Prime Min­is­ter ac­cused the par­ty of be­ing more con­cerned about the es­tab­lish­ment of the se­cu­ri­ty posts than what she de­scribed as “drug blocks” op­er­at­ing in com­mu­ni­ties across the coun­try.

“To my ad­mir­ers in the PNM, why com­plain about the 30 new joint army/po­lice posts across the coun­try when you should be com­plain­ing about the drug blocks that your lo­cal drug mafia friends are run­ning across the coun­try, poi­son­ing our chil­dren?” Per­sad-Bisses­sar said.