The Government is moving to put the Special Operations Bill 2026 before the Lower House on Friday, as Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says the gains made under the State of Emergency must be preserved.
With the SOE set to end on September 17th and crime figures showing declines during the period, the Prime Minister said the proposed legislation will provide a framework for targeted operations against violent crime, gang activity and illegal weapons.
Mrs Persad-Bissessar made the announcement during a statement in the Lower House on Wednesday.
“The Bill has been laid, the Special Operations Bill, 2026, in this House, and that Bill will be debated on Friday the 18th of September in this House and thereafter taken to the Senate. We will leave no stone unturned to go after the criminals, to go after the drug traffickers, to go after the human traffickers, we will leave no stone unturned.”
Mrs Persad-Bissessar said the Bill has been revised and directly addresses concerns raised after its original form was not passed earlier this year.
The Prime Minister said the Bill will establish policing districts in which police officers may conduct special operations.
“Where violent crime, gang activity or illegal weapons pose serious threats and ordinary policing is insufficient, a defined area may be temporarily closed. Within that area, the authorities may establish cordons, impose curfews, regulate entry and departure and exercise enhanced powers of search, seizure, arrest and detention subject to judicial oversight.”
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar said there are measures in the Bill which will provide safeguards, as the Bill is meant to target criminals and not the average citizen. She pointed out that this country’s security services have seized approximately $1 billion in illegal drugs since the UNC administration was voted into office.
“No ordinary person, no small man, no small operator can finance shipments of this magnitude. Up to about $1 billion. Behind the gunmen are wealthier traffickers, financiers and facilitators with access to foreign currency, transportation, commercial infrastructure and international connections.”
The Prime Minister warned that the Government intends to dismantle the two-tiered justice system, as money must no longer buy immunity and political connections must no longer provide protection.