Renowned migration and human trafficking expert, Dr Justine Pierre, who led a team conducting the Cariforum/Caricom Human Trafficking research project in 2019, says nobody from the Trinidad and Tobago Government contacted his team to discuss the human trafficking findings after it was released.

The report lists places where human trafficking occurred, the number of persons involved in the trade, and the known human trafficking routes in the massive human trafficking ring.

In an exclusive interview with Guardian Media yesterday, Dr Pierre said the report was given to T&T’s Ministry of National Security upon completion.

He said most regional and international organisations, such as the US Embassy officials in T&T, the Canadian High Commission in Port-of-Spain, the British High Commission in T&T, the United States Department, the government of Grenada, the Jamaican Director of Public Prosecutions, and many other officials and news organisations, such as Insight Crime, had reached out him for information back then.

However, he said no one from the T&T Government had officially reached out to inquire about the study.

He noted, however, that the only T&T official who reached out after his report was completed was the former director of the T&T Counter-Trafficking Unit, Allana Wheeler.

“We did the Human Trafficking Study. We went down to Trinidad and conducted the case study. We got in touch with 29 sex workers. We gave them cell phones and allowed them to go into the community, and we observed them getting clients. We recorded the geospatial data, bar codes, and we interviewed some of the traffickers”, he revealed.

He added: “We knew the traffickers, their routes, how they operate, and where they meet, and even though we cannot disclose who they are due to confidential arrangements, we can provide assistance to the Government if they are interested in speaking with us.”

The data gathered by Dr Pierre and his team revealed that thousands of people were trafficked or smuggled through the Caribbean annually in the pre-pandemic period.

Dr Pierre told Guardian Media: “We do not know the reason why no one had ever taken the time to discuss such an important project with us.”

Dr Pierre’s revelation comes even as Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher has ordered a probe into the allegations swirling in public over a UNC Parliamentarian’s alleged involved in human trafficking, which was raised in a US State Department Trafficking in Persons report in 2020.

Asked whether he believed this was a cover-up in his own situation, Dr Pierre responded: “I don’t want to implicate the government, I do not have enough data to make such a statement. I don’t know if it is a cover-up, but it is definitely strange.

He added, “You see, we are in the field, we are researchers, and from my experience, about 80 per cent of the people who are in the human trafficking prevention industry have never spoken to a human trafficker, really.”

He further explained: “They don’t know how the industry works because most human traffickers have no criminal record. They are ordinary people on the street. But they have a great appetite for money and sex, it’s psychological and it is an easy way to make money because it has such a low apprehension rate, and the demand is so high.”

Asked whether he believed there was enough evidence in the Cariforum/Caricom Human Trafficking research project to lead to the prosecution of human traffickers, Dr Pierre said: “I think we have enough evidence to prosecute traffickers. However, I am not a lawyer, so I may not be the best person to answer that question. I believe that the T&T Government should consult with the DPP office in Jamaica; they recently had someone convicted.”

He also urged the Ministry of National Security to reach out to his team this time around.

“We provided the details; therefore, they can contact us if they want. We have most of the data, we got it from the sex workers, and most of these places are still in operation. That is what we are saying, but no one from the National Security office has contacted us,” he said.

Stuart: I never saw Caricom report

Former Minister of National Security Stuart Young says the findings of the Cariforum/Caricom Human Trafficking research project in 2019 were never brought to his attention.

However, he is denying nothing was done to stop human trafficking in T&T under his tenure.

Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday as allegations continued to swirl around an Opposition member’s involvement in human trafficking, Young said there were a number of operations conducted by the TTPS, Immigration and the Counter Trafficking Unit that led to persons, including corrupt officials being charged.

He also denied law enforcement officers who were implicated in the illicit activity were not apprehended.

“Your assumption that information related to corrupt police officers and immigration officials was not pursued is wrong,” Young said.

“The record would reflect that police officers and others were charged for being involved in crimes associated with human trafficking during my tenure as Minister of National Security.”

Asked what the challenges in prosecuting corrupt public officials were, including politicians, Young responded: “For the record, I did not see the report to which you refer, so I am not in a position to comment on any such report.”

But lead human trafficking expert and researcher Dr Justine Pierre says while the T&T Government was not their client, a copy of the Cariforum/Caricom Human Trafficking report was sent to the Ministry of National Security when the research was completed.