Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar took to her X account this morning attempting to link violent crime trends in Trinidad and Tobago to race and accusing the opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) of shielding “drug mafia financiers.”

The Prime Minister’s post asserted that between 2015 and 2025, there were 124,062 crimes, including 5,000 murders and 9,000 rapes and sexual assaults. She also asserted that the majority of victims of gang violence and assaults were “young afro adults and teenagers”. She further claimed that most communities “oppressed” by violent gangs are “Afro-dominated” communities within PNM strongholds.

“Yet the PNM -an Afro-dominated party- continues to block action by the security services to help these communities. The PNM hierarchy’s real concern appears to be protecting local drug-mafia financiers,” she claimed.