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Sunday, December 5, 2010
Trinidad and Tobago government has tabled legislation aimed at dealing with criminal gangs and warned that the measures contained are designed to eat into the flesh, until it reaches the very bone.
Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said that Anti-Gang Bill will provide for heavy jail terms and severe financial consequences for persons who joined gangs and engaged in criminal activities.
The gangs has become a centre piece and a foundation for crime," he said, adding desperate times require strong measures.
Ramlogan said the indoctrination process to join a gang is such that you have to prove yourself worthy of membership by committing petty crimes including robbery and distribution of narcotics. To gain entry into the bigger gangs, you have to prove that you could murder a man or woman in cold blood.
According to the Attorney General, police indicate there are more than 100 gangs on the island, some of which comprise of approximately 12 persons each while others have as many as 60 members and more.
The Attorney General said the new bill would provide for ordinary gang members to be jailed for 20 years, gang-leaders by imprisonment for the remaining natural years of their life, and gangsters who are also members of the protective services by 25 years in jail.
If you cut off the head, the gang will bleed to death, he said, noting that some gangs get intelligence information and firearms training from members of the protective services.
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