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Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles has dismissed Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s repeated claims the People’s National Movement (PNM) is being financed by a “local drug mafia” and is fuelling an anti-United States narrative, calling the allegations “ridiculous” and “unfounded.”

Speaking to reporters as she arrived for the sitting of the House of Representatives on December 5. Beckles said if the Prime Minister had evidence of criminal links, she should take it to the police instead of making what she described as politically motivated accusations and a distraction amid concerns about the installation of US radar systems in Tobago.

Her response followed comments Persad-Bissessar posted to social media on December 1, in which she alleged “persons, groups, politicians, and businesses who are profiting from drug trafficking are fuelling this anti-American narrative.”