Police double agent compromised bust of SIA; Israelis erased intelligence data: Report

An investigation by the Sunday Express has revealed that the police crackdown on a the illegal Security Intelligenc Agency (SIA) on October 23 was compromised by a police double agent, who tipped off agency head Nigel Clement that a high-level police swat team was on its way to the SIA headquarters.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar exposed the bogus spying operation in Parliament and subequently introduced legisxlation to legalise wiretapping under very stringent conditions in the fight against crime. The bill received unanimous support although the man at the centre of the controversry, former Prime Mininter Patrick Manning, left Parliament before legislators voted on the bill.

According to the information that Persad-Bissessar revaled in Parliament the illegal operation was sanctioned by Manning. Citizens of all strata of osciety, including the President, government and opposition politicians, the judiciary, journalists and ordinary citizens, were taregts of the spying. The SIA also operated s lush fund that ran into millions to support its illegal operations.

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan stated earlier this month that Clement told him that he took instructions from Manning, a charge that Manning had dismissed as a fabrication by Ramlogan.

Now the Express is reporting that a police double agent was involved. Its report Sunday said while the Police Special Branch was mapping out its tactical approach for a total lockdown of the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA) command centre "a police double agent was giving the rogue agency the heads-up police were on their way."

It continued, "The Police Special Branch was acting on information provided by an SIA whistle-blower that two operatives from the Israeli manufacturer that sold the spy equipment to the T&T government in 2002, were on-site at the SIA spy post in Port of Spain and engaged in a massive data-sanitisation exercise.

"By the time the high-level swat team, comprising officers of the Police Special Branch and the Anti-Corruption Investigation Bureau, arrived at the SIA command centre, the two Israelis were gone. So, too, were the file contents of the empty jacket folders left behind, intelligence sources have disclosed.

"The CCTV tapes which provide full electronic surveillance cover for the St Vincent Street SIA post were also said to have been wiped clean."

The paper said the SIA had stepped up its electronic spying on civilians and Manning's political opponents following the PNM's defeat in the May 24 election. 

"The increased surveillance activity was noted by an intelligence analyst who, sources say, became aware of the illegal actions and the number of files opened in respect of prominent individuals," the paper said.

It added that in mid-October, Persad-Bissessar was tipped off about what was happoened and directed Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs to investigate. The Express said that's when the SIA sent a coded e-mail message to the spy equipment manufacturer in Israel.

According to the Express the message said: "the fruit in the basket need fumigating". Two Israelis arrived in Port of Spain immediately after that adding that "The police swoop was...compromised by a police spy who reported back to the SIA".

Clement has refused to comment on any of this, the paper said, "He is also yet to give an account for the millions of taxpayers' dollars paid out to unspecified informants for so-called criminal intelligence or how useful this intelligence was to crime detection and/or prosecution of persons. 

"Reports...identify informants, who were paid up to $20,000 in cash per month, as friends and relatives of SIA personnel," the Express reported.