‘Don’t underestimate these guys’Police report details intricate tactics of criminal gangs targeting bank customers... Mark Bassant
A police probe has concluded that organised criminal gangs have been monitoring, tracking and then robbing bank customers with alarming frequency over the past three years.
A Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) intelligence report seen by the Sunday Express, compiled early last year, detailed the strategies used by these gangs after an informant from one of the gangs supplied critical information to give the police an insight into their well-planned criminal actions.
“What you are seeing here in the report and what I will also tell you is truly amazing and it tells you how you must not underestimate these guys. They have studied the behavioural pattern of the customers and they have developed various techniques on gathering information on their targets,” said a senior intelligence officer familiar with gang activities.
According to the official, contrary to previous social media posts over the last year, there was no involvement of bank employees or other staff members at these banks in the well-timed and executed robberies.
“For quite some time a team of officers conducted surveillance at some of these banks and they saw that tellers were not allowed to use their cellphones.
“Likewise the security guards when they are on duty are not allowed cellphones. The guards have their walkie-talkies and in case of emergency they will use the landline to call the office or something like that.
“So to say that they were involved in setting up customers and clients is absolutely false and untrue,” the official said.
Under surveillanceEven after this intelligence report was created, the official said there is still a significant uptick in this type of unlawful activity in 2024.
“We have various low-level members of gangs being sent to do this kind of work. They are the low-level members who now join and this is where they wet their feet, so to speak.
“There is a gang operating out of Beetham, there is a team from ABG (Anybody Gets It) in Morvant, an expelled team from Beetham operating in Central and South Trinidad, and then there is also a small team from Arima linked with some men in La Horquetta,” the senior official said.
One of the scenarios described in the report surrounded how the gangs’ operation involves an inside man at a business.
That individual would keep an eye on the boss/contractor and note when he or she went to the bank to collect salaries to pay the workers on a weekly or fortnightly basis.
The inside man would then pass that information to other gang members, who would organise surveillance on him for a particular time to observe his patterns.
“What they will do is follow the boss’s vehicle with different vehicles and then on that given day when he comes out of the bank, they will look for the most opportune time to strike,” said the officer.
Another scenario presented in the paper, based on informant feedback, involved a more sophisticated team effort in which a gang member would enter the bank and monitor their target from within.
When the target arrives at the teller’s counter, these individuals typically sit nearby, observing the person and listening to the money counter.
On other occasions, they would also see their target exiting the commercial area with an envelope. According to the report, the gang member would swiftly look up and text the squad waiting outside information on what the person was wearing.
The intelligence officer gave further insight as he referenced the particular report.
“What happens, the team may sometimes consist of a man, woman and a baby sitting in a legitimate car, perhaps in the car park, or if that is not possible two men will be sitting in a heavily-tinted car.
“If by chance the security guard comes by, they will switch off the ignition. These persons are called spotters. Then there is another vehicle on the outside who is going to launch the attack.
“In some cases they may nudge you from behind in traffic and when you come out to see what happened, they then strike and in some cases grab the money and the victim before later throwing out the victim.
“In other cases they wait at times when the person gets near to their home. If they live on a property where there is an electronic gate, once they see the yellow light flashing they say that is the time to go after them,” the officer said.
The report also noted that targeted victims would frequently leave the bank and stop at a spot to grab lunch or something else, while stashing their cash under their car seat, inside their glove compartment, or another inconspicuous area in their vehicle.
Moments later, the gang members following them would smash their car windows, find the money and leave.
One of these incidents took place in June this year after a businessman withdrew some $20,000 in cash from Scotiabank in Ellerslie Plaza, Maraval, and later parked his car at the One Woodbrook Place car park.
He returned some time later and found that his car window had been smashed and the money gone.
Similar crimes occurred this year and last year when bank customers left money in their cars after leaving banks in South, Central and along the East-West Corridor.
Another key scenario noted in the report was gang members attempting to blend in and monitor customers’ activities by acting as well-dressed customers to open a bank account.
“This way when the guy comes in dressed properly, he is not going to arouse any suspicion and while he is waiting to see a CSR, he can monitor his victim and send any developments to the team on the outside,” the senior officer said.
Escape routesThe report sheds further light on why most of the gangs operating along the East-West Corridor target specific banks. The informant, who was once a gang member in one of these gang heist teams, stated that they focused mostly on Republic Bank in Trincity, Valpark Shopping Plaza in Valsayn, and Grand Bazaar because multiple escape routes are accessible following the crime.
The informant explained in the report that accessibility to the highway was critical.
For instance, after a job is completed at Grand Bazaar, they might drive down the highway and trick the cops into thinking they were going south.
However, in most cases, they exit at Chaguanas and return via the Caroni Savannah Road after switching vehicles with different number plates.
“They don’t ever drive back with the same hot number plates heading back to the west. So the drive is never to the base, it is always away so that they would keep police looking for someone heading south,” added the officer.
The informant stated that in the past, his crew committed robberies in various traffic-congested regions in and around Port of Spain, San Juan and Tunapuna, but traffic congestion was a concern that may lead to them being apprehended easily, so they chose locations with multiple escape routes.
The report also mentioned the strategies the gang would use while targeting a victim at Republic Bank in Valpark Shopping Plaza. The gang members would regularly park on the eastern side of the SuperPharm parking lot, across the street from the Valpark Republic Bank, and observe their target before striking.
While the robberies had a high degree of success, the informant stated in the report that the variance in how the money was distributed following the robbery has caused conflict among numerous gangs.
“Sometimes three men would have done a particular job and let’s say the loop is about $80,000. Each of them would receive about $5,000 while if they may have rented a car for the robbery and other incidentals which may have cost about $5,000 then the other $60,000 would go to the leader.
“Many of them feel because they took the risk they should be given more because the leader was just sitting home collecting the lion’s share,” the officer said.
As a result, the informant stated in the report that members broke away and created their own team, in the hopes of landing not just a “big score” but also a larger percentage divided evenly without having to split it with a “boss or gang leader”.
However, the informant stated that even this can have serious implications since an irate gang leader may send someone to spy on their activities and then tip off the police, resulting in their arrests, as has happened in the past.
“This could have deadly consequences since the person sent to spy may end up getting killed. Because they are not the spy for the police but for the gang leader and, in most cases, he is cheaply hired so they will go after him and that alone can cause a never-ending war,” said the officer.
There were also many instances where the gang leader thought he was short-changed after the robbery when he heard a greater sum mentioned in media reports compared to what he received, which also resulted in violence in some cases.
According to the officer, they have met with numerous banks and given them advice on how to improve security in and around the bank’s parking lots, as well as how to promptly notify the authorities if they observe any strange people or activity near some of the vulnerable banks.
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