ROGUE cops who “escaped” with more than $12 million worth of cocaine from the Princes Town Police Station about a year ago are still on the run and the trail has now gone “cold”.

Police officers fear that the investigation into the disappearance of 33 kilos of the drug, which was part of exhibits in the case against a Princes Town husband and wife in October 2005, has been swept under the carpet because three senior officers were allegedly linked to the missing drug.

Acting Senior Superintendent Glenroy Woodley, head of the Fraud Squad, Port of Spain, who was put in charge of the investigation, was sent on a four-month police course in England in May.

He is due to resume duties next week.

The investigation was taken away from Senior Superintendent Nadir Mohammed, who was then in charge of the San Fernando Police Division, two weeks after it started and handed over to Woodley.

Mohammed was moved to Port of Spain and put in charge of the Complaints Division.

Narine Rooplal and his wife, Ashti, were charged with trafficking in 73.3 kilos of cocaine after police raided a house at School Trace, New Grant on August 22, 2000, where it was alleged that feed bags filled with the drugs were found.

During their trial in September 2005 before Justice Herbert Volney, it was discovered that part of the cocaine, which was lodged with the property keeper at the Princes Town Police Station in June 2002 for safe keeping at the end of the preliminary inquiry in the magistrates’ court, was missing.

When the exhibits were brought to court, the prosecution found about 33 kilos of the drug, valued $12 million, had vanished from the packages, and replaced with pieces of stripped styrotex and newspaper.

Justice Volney, who called for an investigation into the disappearance of the cocaine, in freeing Narine Rooplal of the charge (his wife was first acquitted) said that some police officer or officers unlawfully tampered with 32 packages of cocaine and stolen the drug.

Rats in hiding

“While it is the perpetrator or perpetrators of this theft (who) may have enriched himself or themselves unjustly through the proceeds of crime, it is startling that this should happen in a police station in relation to court exhibits,” he remarked.

“This court cannot idly allow this to pass by without those responsible being made to account and, if necessary, brought to justice,” Justice Volney said.

The judge noted that “human rats” made off with the cocaine.

However, it would appear these “rats” are still alive and keeping away from the police “trap,” one officer noted.

Now a month has gone by since another investigation started into the disappearance of $2 million worth of cocaine from the property room at the Morvant Police disappeared without any headway being made.

The cocaine, which was exhibit in a court case was left for safe keeping last month.

Some concerned police officers want to why these investigations are taking so long, especially when there is only one officer is entrusted with the keys to the property room. And since the property room was not broken into, the property keeper would have to explain what became of the keys.

Then another investigation into the disappearance of a stolen car from the Cunupia Police Station earlier this year is at a standstill.

The car, which was seized by two police from two bandits in the Cunupia area some months ago was lodged at the station.

A week later the car was seized in a roadblock and the driver told police he had bought the car from the owner of a wrecker.

The investigation revealed that the car, which would have been an exhibit in a car theft case, was sold to a man in Cunupia.

Two police officers were questioned and later released.

Officers are also asking what became of the investigation into the incident involving Deputy Commissioner of Police Glen Roach and a police constable outside the Queen’s Park Oval during the West Indies and India Test match earlier this year.

The police constable had tried to arrest Roach for disobeying an order. The officer alleged that Roach bit him on his hand when he attempted to arrest the top cop.

Some other lawmen want to know whether Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Oswyn Allard, who was asked to probe the incident, has gone to Washington, USA, with the file.

Allard was recently sent on a six-month course to the United States and would not be returning until the end of the year.