Summary
- Swift Rescue: 73-year-old Tara Poliah was rescued unharmed at sea just hours after being abducted from her home in San Juan by armed men.
- High-Seas Interception: Acting on a radar alert, law enforcement intercepted a vessel off the coast of Trinidad, preventing the kidnappers from taking the victim out of the country.
- Ten Suspects Detained: Eight men (six Venezuelans and two Trinidadians) were arrested on the boat, and two additional suspects were later captured at Tyrico Bay.
A 73-year-old kidnapping victim has been safely rescued following a dramatic late-night operation at sea.
Lawmen intercepted a vessel off the coast of Trinidad after receiving a radar alert, resulting in what officials are calling a major breakthrough against organised crime.
The woman, Tara Poliah, had been abducted just hours earlier from her home along Don Miguel Road in San Juan. Police say she was forced into a vehicle by a group of armed men shortly after 7 pm.
Acting on information from the Radar Centre, officers tracked and intercepted a boat just before midnight, approximately one nautical mile off the coast near Corozal. On board, they found the victim unharmed, along with eight men—including six Venezuelan nationals and two Trinidad and Tobago nationals—all of whom were detained.
Investigators believe the abductors were attempting to transport the woman out of the country when the vessel was detected. Poliah has since been reunited with her family.
The operation involved multiple units of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, supported by the Coast Guard and the Air Support Unit, highlighting seamless inter-agency coordination. Two additional suspects were later held at Tyrico Bay, bringing the total number of persons detained in connection with the incident to ten.
Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro praised the swift response, stating that the success of the operation underscores the effectiveness of intelligence-led policing and inter-agency teamwork in disrupting cross-border kidnapping networks.
The interception was made possible by Trinidad and Tobago’s primary 360-degree radar system, a coastal surveillance network managed by the Coast Guard to monitor maritime borders and combat illegal activities such as drug trafficking and smuggling. The Israeli-made system, which received a US$7.5 million upgrade in 2018, is capable of monitoring regions as far north as Grenada. (CMC)
