POLICE officers attached to the Port of Spain Highway Patrol have swooped down on owners of fraudulent bus route passes.

Several fake passes were seized in an exercise carried out along the Aranguez Savannah on the Priority Bus Route (PBR) last Wednesday.

About 20 fake copies were confiscated between 9 a.m. when the raid began and around 10 a.m. when TnT Mirror arrived at the scene.

“In one case, the driver of a PH motor car was travelling along the route when officers braced the male driver,” said Acting Assistant Superintendent Naipaul who demonstrated the differences between the original and fake copies.

“Two other females occupied the vehicle at the time.”

When asked to produce his bus route pass, the man pulled out a document signed by the permanent secretary which stated that he, along with another female (name mentioned) were allowed to use the bus route.

The document was siezed by officers and the driver was given a ticket for unauthorised use of the Priority Bus Route.

The officer pointed out the permanent secretary was not authorised to sign any bus route pass and that the document was fake.

Another taxi-driver also in possession of a fake pass told the officers that the document was bought somewhere in Barataria.

The officer suggested the fakes could be emanating from inside the ministry, due to their close resemblance to originals.

Police officers on the Priority Bus Route.

A number of fake copies spread out on police car.

The original copy.

“There is a racket going on with these bus route passes,” said another officer.

When Mirror questioned the president of the Route Two Maxi-Taxi Association, Victor George, he said he believed the majority of maxi passes siezed by police last Wednesday were good/originals.

When George arrived at the scene, the officers informed him of the number of passes siezed.

“I saw a lot of inconsistencies in the signature on the passes but people make mistakes. Not all the time your signature would look the same.

“If I am in a hurry, my signature would look different, as opposed to if I took my time to write it.”

George spent some time at the exercise and claimed to observe some leeway being given to ministry vehicles.

“I noticed the officers allowed WASA, TTEC and other government ministry vehicles through that didn’t have passes,” he said.

Although the maxi boss expressed joy in the exercise, he noted that no vehicle, not even government, must be allowed on the Bus Route without a valid pass.

“Not even the Commissioner of Police Trevor Paul is allowed to use his private vehicle on the (PBR) with-out a pass. But, you know a police officer would not stop him if he was seen there.”

The official recalled that taxi-drivers who use the route must pay $1,200 annually plus the hub fee, hence the higher taxi fare on Bus Route maxis as against the Eastern Main Road.

George said another rate hike is imminent.

“We haven’t increased our fares in five years, but will be doing that soon.”