Of­fi­cers of the Trinidad and To­ba­go Po­lice Ser­vice de­tained 53 Venezue­lan na­tion­als dur­ing an overnight op­er­a­tion in Curepe. The op­er­a­tion, dubbed “Bor­der Shield”, was car­ried out be­tween 11 p.m. on Fri­day and 5 a.m. on Sat­ur­day.

Po­lice said the 53 adults—four men and 49 women—were found at a lo­ca­tion along the South­ern Main Road, Curepe, af­ter in­tel­li­gence-led in­ves­ti­ga­tions in­di­cat­ed they had en­tered Trinidad and To­ba­go il­le­gal­ly.

They were in­ter­viewed and tak­en to sev­er­al po­lice sta­tions for safe­keep­ing while im­mi­gra­tion in­ves­ti­ga­tions con­tin­ue.

The op­er­a­tion in­volved of­fi­cers from sev­er­al TTPS units, in­clud­ing the Crim­i­nal In­ves­ti­ga­tions De­part­ment, Im­mi­gra­tion In­ves­ti­ga­tions Unit, An­ti-Kid­nap­ping Unit and Coastal and Air Sup­port Unit.