- Post-SoE Strategy: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced the introduction of the Special Operations Bill 2026 to provide a permanent legal framework to combat gangs and violent crime once the State of Emergency expires.
- Targeting the Top: The PM issued a stern warning to wealthy drug financiers, noting recent cocaine seizures worth $398 million and promising an end to the ‘two-tiered justice system.’
- Enhanced Safeguards: The new legislation mandates the use of body-worn cameras, human rights training for officers, and strict judicial and parliamentary oversight to protect law-abiding citizens.
By Prior Beharry
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has announced the government’s intention to bring the Special Operations Bill 2026 to Parliament, establishing a permanent legal framework to combat violent crime as the State of Emergency (SoE) ends on Thursday at midnight.
Speaking in the Lower House on Wednesday, Persad-Bissessar declared that while the SoE’s constitutional period is expiring, the government’s duty to protect citizens remains.
“We will not allow the expiration of emergency powers to create an opportunity for gangs, gunrunners and drug traffickers to regain ground,” she said.
The proposed legislation, that will facilitate Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO), allows for the creation of specific policing districts where authorities can establish cordons, impose curfews, and exercise enhanced powers of search and arrest, she said.
Persad-Bissessar said these operations will be led by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), with military assistance from the Defence Force where necessary.
Addressing concerns over potential abuses of power, Persad-Bissessar outlined safeguards included in the new Bill.
She said officers operating in closed areas will be required to wear body cameras, register weapons, and undergo training in human rights and conflict de-escalation.
The legislation also mandates monthly reports to the National Security Ministers and an annual report to Parliament.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the successes of the outgoing six-month SoE. According to a declassified operational report, authorities arrested 5,802 people and laid 3,552 charges, including 2,154 for serious crimes such as murder, kidnapping, and firearm offences. She had posted that report on her social media pages on Sunday.
Persad-Bissessar noted recent drug busts, saying police, Customs, and Coast Guard officers recently intercepted 856.7 kilogrammes of cocaine valued at nearly $398 million. She stated that since her government took office, approximately $1 billion in illegal drugs had been seized.
Issuing a stern warning to the wealthy facilitators behind the drug trade, the Prime Minister promised to dismantle what she described as a two-tiered justice system inherited from the previous administration.
“Criminals operating from Westmoorings, St Clair or Federation Park will be treated in the same manner as those operating from Laventille, Arima or Siparia or from anywhere else,” she said.
The Prime Minister said, “Money will no longer buy immunity. Status will not prevent investigation. Political connections will not provide protection.”
Persad-Bissessar ended her statement by challenging the Opposition PNM, who had previously raised objections to similar legislation, warning that blocking the Bill would force citizens to ask, “whose interests it is protecting.”
“To the criminals, their financiers and facilitators, I issue this warning: the State of Emergency may end, but there will be no sanctuary for you,” she said.
