PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Trinidad’s Homeland Security Minister, Roger Alexander, says the United States (US) has provided Trinidad and Tobago with a list of “persons of interest” in the country linked to illegal drugs, guns and violence.

Alexander told the Express newspaper that while he could not divulge many details for national security reasons, he wanted to underscore the importance of the support the US is providing to Trinidad and Tobago.

He told the newspaper that people were commenting without understanding the significance of Trinidad and Tobago becoming a signatory to the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, which is designed to coordinate intelligence sharing, law enforcement and military operations among participating countries.

The coalition is an initiative of US President Donald Trump and apart from Trinidad and Tobago, the only other Caribbean country that is a signatory is Guyana. The other 17 countries are from  Latin America.

“I support this move as the Homeland Security Minister, so much so that when it happened, I was moved, totally moved, because when you look at it, this is something completely different. And it’s an initiative that could only happen under the current government led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar,” he said, adding that the US gathers a “massive amount” of intelligence on countries, organisations and individuals.

“And they know exactly who they can work with and who they can trust with respect to their security efforts and combating cartels and narco-traffickers,” he said.

Alexander said the US has expressed confidence in working with the T&T Government.

The US has carried out a number of kinetic strikes on alleged drug boats in the region since September 2025, killing more than a 100 people, including nationals from Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia.

Alexander said “force” must be used in accordance with the law and that aggression was needed to deal with criminality.

“We support the aggressive action against those persons who continue to kill our citizens through their trafficking. They are killing the entire society with their nefarious activities which impact our youth.

“We are fed up. We want citizens to look like and act and appear to be the future leaders of tomorrow, not a whole heap of pipers walking around,” said Alexander, noting that Trinidad and Tobago is currently under a state of emergency.

He told the newspaper that he believes that the alliance with the US could help address the threats facing the country.

“It will strengthen us. And again, this alignment will create history in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.