The Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU) of the Ministry of Homeland Security has dealt what it describes as a significant blow to a human trafficking network, following one of the Unit’s most significant intelligence-led operations to date. The coordinated, multi-agency exercise, dubbed Operation Iceberg, resulted in the execution of three Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs) under the Emergency Powers Regulations, 2026, and marked the CTU’s first major enforcement operation in Tobago.
According to a media release issued Saturday, the operation was the culmination of several months of intelligence gathering, surveillance and operational planning by Authorized Officers of the CTU and partner agencies. It unfolded over two coordinated phases across Trinidad and Tobago between Wednesday, July 22 and Saturday, July 25, targeting a network allegedly responsible for the recruitment, harbouring, transportation and exploitation of vulnerable persons for commercial sexual exploitation.
The first phase of the operation resulted in the arrest of Titus Du Bois, 41, a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, at Long Circular Road, St. James, on July 22. Du Bois was subsequently detained under a Preventive Detention Order pending investigations into his alleged involvement in a human trafficking network, offences relating to Trafficking in Children, and the sexual exploitation of a minor over an approximate six-month period. Officers also executed a search warrant at his residence on Morne Coco Road, Petit Valley.
The operation’s second phase shifted to Tobago, where Authorized Officers arrested two additional individuals connected to the same alleged network.
On July 24, officers arrested Francis Carolina Rengel Ojeda, 26, a Venezuelan national, in Scarborough. She was detained under a Preventive Detention Order amid ongoing investigations into allegations that she facilitated the sexual exploitation of a minor within Trinidad and Tobago.
The following day, officers intercepted and arrested Damon Domonic Charles, 38, in Signal Hill. He was detained under a Preventive Detention Order pending investigations into offences relating to Trafficking in Children and the sexual penetration of a minor. During the operation, officers executed a search warrant at Charles’s residence on Aquamarine Drive, Signal Hill, where three Venezuelan women aged 20 to 23 were encountered, screened and found to be on orders of supervision.
Simultaneously, officers conducted an exercise at Chill Out Bar on Milford Road, where five Latin American women between the ages of 22 and 44 were found. All five were detained and taken to the Shirvan Road Police Station for further processing by Immigration Enforcement. Following screening, two of the women were released after being found to have adequate immigration status.
The operation coincides with Trinidad and Tobago’s observance of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on July 30, held this year under the global theme “Trapped Behind the Scam.” According to the CTU, the operation underscores the reality behind the campaign’s message, that trafficking often begins not with force, but with deception, false promises and the exploitation of vulnerability.
Preliminary investigations indicate that a 17-year-old Venezuelan girl was allegedly deceived by what appeared to be a legitimate employment opportunity in Trinidad before being subjected to sexual exploitation. Investigators allege that after believing she had escaped her ordeal and would be given a chance to rebuild her life in Tobago before returning home, the deception and exploitation instead continued.
Operation Iceberg brought together Authorized Officers from the CTU, the Financial Investigations Branch, the Office of the DCP Operations and Support, the Office of the DCP Intelligence and Investigations of the TTPS, the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, the Immigration Division, the Customs and Excise Division, the Strategic Services Agency, the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, and other supporting agencies.
The CTU said the operation demonstrates the effectiveness of a whole-of-government approach to combating trafficking in persons and reflects continued strengthening of intelligence-sharing and operational collaboration among the country’s law enforcement and national security agencies.
Minister of Homeland Security the Honourable Roger Alexander commended the officers involved and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to dismantling criminal networks profiting from human exploitation.
“Operation Iceberg demonstrates that human trafficking is not simply a social issue, it is organized crime, and it will be treated as such,” Alexander said. “This operation reflects months of intelligence gathering, planning and collaboration among our law enforcement and national security agencies. I commend every officer who played a role in bringing this investigation to this stage.”
He added: “The Government of Trinidad and Tobago remains dedicated in its commitment to identifying victims, holding traffickers accountable and dismantling the criminal networks that seek to profit from the exploitation of vulnerable people.”