Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams made a drastic about face yesterday, after Independent Liberal Party (ILP) political leader Jack Warner revealed that the Police Service and retired deputy commissioner of police Mervyn Richardson were aware that five grammes of a marijuana-like substance were found at the private home of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar back in 2013.
Williams, in a media release yesterday, claimed that he had just been apprised that there was a drug find at the private residence of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and has “ordered an investigation into the matter.”
The release was not clear as to whether the police were now investigating alleged attempts by politicians to cover up a drug matter or investigating the actual discovery, neither did it state who was the owner of the drugs.
Williams did not respond to several attempts to reach him yesterday, but the media statement, issued shortly before 6 pm, contradicted his own words during a previous media interview in Tobago on Monday.
In that interview, Williams said he was head of the Police Service back in 2013 and was not aware of any drug find at the prime minister’s home.
Whereas Williams had initially denied any knowledge of the drug find, in the media release he said that only yesterday at 2 pm, some 30 minutes before Warner's press conference began, he received confirmation from Senior Superintendent Gary Gould, operational head of the Special Branch, that there was in fact a “plant like material” resembling marijuana found at Persad-Bissessar's residence.
The media release states that on Monday, Senior Superintendent McDonald Jacob advised Williams that there was no police record of the alleged discovery at Persad-Bissessar’s home.
“However, today (yesterday) Tuesday 16th June, 2015, the Commissioner of Police was presented with a signed report from Snr Supt Gould which confirmed the discovery of 5 (five) grammes of a ‘plant like material’ resembling that of marijuana, contained in a plastic bag in the male washroom of a gazebo, on the western end of the Prime Minister’s private residence at Philippine, San Fernando.”
The report, which was submitted to the Commissioner of Police at 2 pm, stated that the discovery was made on Friday, 19 April 2013, at around 8.50 am by a member of Special Branch.
During his tour in Tobago on Monday, Williams said he spoke to the operational head of Special Branch, who was named in the report, and he was not aware of any drug find.
“He has confirmed that position to me,” Williams said.
“There is no recorded report based on the checks and verification that I have asked to be done today. I have gotten that feedback,” he said then.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Ag) Ainsley Garrick has been appointed to conduct this investigation.