Missing Trinidadian: Suspected Connection to Marijuana Trafficking from Illegal Plantation and Discreet Boat Exits

PM Browne Rebukes Newsday Article on Missing Persons in Antigua

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has dismissed as “baseless condemnation” a recent Trinidad and Tobago Newsday article highlighting cases of missing persons in Antigua and Barbuda, calling it a smear campaign led by “deracinated opposition elements” in collaboration with foreign actors.

In a strongly worded response shared on social media, Browne criticised Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Minister Sean Sobers and the Newsday newspaper for what he described as moral hypocrisy. He pointed to Trinidad and Tobago’s own record of more than 500 missing persons annually, asserting, “You have no moral authority to condemn our beautiful country.”

The Newsday editorial, titled Antigua Anguish, raised concerns about an alleged pattern of disappearances in Antigua and Barbuda, referencing several unresolved cases over the past decade, including that of 21-year-old Trinidadian Thomas Vasquez. Vasquez has been missing since mid-April, with the article accusing Antiguan authorities of a delayed response and poor communication with concerned relatives.

But Prime Minister Browne countered that there is no evidence Vasquez went missing in Antigua. He alleged the young man had a history of clandestinely leaving the country by boat and was involved in marijuana cultivation on an illegal farm.

“Whereas we hope that the missing Trinidadian young man is safe,” Browne stated, “the facts needed to be stated.”

The prime minister also expressed sympathy for Vasquez’s mother and said he hoped the young man would be found alive. However, he stood by his government’s position, saying, “I stand always on the ugly truth without fear of consequences.”

The Newsday article had called for regional assistance, including from the FBI and CARICOM, to address what it described as a troubling pattern of disappearances and a lack of investigative resources in Antigua.

Browne’s full response:

Here again, deracinated opposition elements have joined with a foreigner to condemn our beautiful twin island state.

Mr Sobers/Newsday, with more than 500 individuals missing in Trinidad & Tobago annually and hundreds unaccounted for; you have no moral authority to condemn our beautiful country. Instead, you should focus on the exponential increase in crime in your home country.

Whereas, we hope that the missing Trinidadian young man is safe, there is no evidence that he went missing in Antigua.

He has had a history of entering the country by plane and leaving clandestinely by boat, ostensibly peddling marijuana from an illegal farm on which he worked here in Antigua.

Whereas, we sympathize and empathize with his grieving mother and trust that he would be found alive, the facts needed to be stated.

I stand always on the ugly truth without fear of consequences.

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