Trinidad and Tobago is recording progress in its fight against human trafficking, with authorities initiating 13 sex trafficking cases this year, compared with 11 in 2025.
According to Principal Deputy Director of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, Rachel Poynter, the increase in prosecutions, along with the conviction of a former police officer for human trafficking, demonstrates the country’s efforts to hold offenders accountable.
“Trinidad and Tobago increased trafficking prosecutions, initiating 13 sex trafficking cases, up from 11 the year before. A former police officer was convicted and sentenced to over 16 years’ imprisonment for human trafficking and that outcome sends a clear and important signal that no one is above the law.”
Ms Poynter highlighted that two suspects were charged with 29 offences in May, when Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs) were used against a trafficking operation for the first time. In August, the Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU) conducted its first operation in Tobago, resulting in charges against three people.
Speaking at the opening of a Human Trafficking Investigative Training Workshop on Tuesday, she said growing links between human trafficking, organised crime and transnational criminal networks have made international cooperation, intelligence-sharing and coordinated enforcement more critical than ever.
“Working alongside US counterparts, Trinbagonian officers have seized tonnes of narcotics linked to Venezuelan criminal groups, including TdA, Tren de Aragua. Joint investigations have also sent firearms traffickers who armed criminal groups here to prison in the United States.”
The partnership also includes training for dozens of law enforcement officers in investigations and financial crimes, while approximately 170 aviation and border personnel were trained in September to identify signs of human trafficking.
A new 24-hour Passenger Information Unit is also expected to strengthen intelligence-sharing with international and regional agencies.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Homeland Security, Videsh Maharaj, said the workshop is designed to address operational challenges and equip investigators with the tools needed to tackle increasingly sophisticated trafficking operations.
“This workshop directly targets the critical capabilities required on the frontline. Investigating high-value leads, dismantling false labour networks, conducting trauma-enforced interviews, and leveraging advanced digital forensics. These tools will allow you to test assumptions, corroborate accounts, and close evidence gaps from day one.”
Deputy Director of the CTU, Dane-Marie Marshall, noted that the workshop would equip investigators with skills to account for the complex circumstances surrounding trafficking victims, particularly when gathering information and pursuing prosecutions.
“They require more than identifying an offence. They demand careful intelligence gathering, sound investigative techniques, and an understanding of vulnerabilities experienced by victims and the ability to build strong cases that can withstand judicial scrutiny. As a unit, we recognise that effective investigations depend on continuous learning and the ability to adapt to emerging methods of exploitation.”
The workshop was hosted by the US Homeland Security Investigations and the Counter Trafficking Unit of the Ministry of Homeland Security at the Police Academy in St James.