00:01This is the Antonov AN-12BP operated by Kafok Air that arrived in Trinidad at the Piako International Airport while
00:09en route to Libya on Thursday evening that authorities say was flagged after explosives were found on board the aircraft.
00:16Security officials at the airport alerted senior police officers after concerns were raised about the aircraft's cargo manifest.
00:24According to flight tracking data from Flightradar24.com, the aircraft landed at Piako at approximately 6 to 8 p.m.
00:31on Thursday after traveling from Nassau, Bahamas.
00:35Records indicated that it had earlier departed from Houston, Texas in the United States.
00:40Sources say that a five-person European crew told authorities the cargo consisted of industrial explosives, but this is yet
00:47to be verified.
00:47Military and police personnel were subsequently deployed to secure the aircraft while investigations continued today.
00:55The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service confirmed that a security-related matter involving a cargo aircraft at Piako International Airport
01:02was under active investigation by multiple state agencies.
01:06The TTP has said that, amid the heightening security posture under the ongoing state of emergency, routing checks identified, quote
01:15-unquote, irregularities requiring immediate precautionary action.
01:20The aircraft was secured, the crew accounted for, and all relevant national security units activated in accordance with established protocols,
01:28the statement added.
01:29The police emphasized that at no time was there any threat to the traveling public, airport operations, or the wider
01:36national community.
01:38The police said the matter now forms part of an active multi-agency national security investigation, and indicated that no
01:45further operational details would be released at this stage because of, quote-unquote, recent intelligence assessments and international security obligations.
01:54A similar kind of aircraft was publicly welcomed by the Piako International Airport in 2022 in a social media post
02:02highlighting the growth of the air cargo sector.
02:05In that post, the airport stated, quote-unquote,
02:08We welcome the large Antonov AN-12BP aircraft, which is used to bring vital cargo to Trinidad and Tobago.
02:16Mark Bessant, TV6 News.
