Police in Trinidad and Tobago are continuing an extensive manhunt for eight Venezuelan nationals who remain at large after a group of detainees escaped from the Immigration Detention Centre in Arima on Saturday following an alleged assault on detention officers.
According to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), the escape occurred around 3:40 p.m. when a detention officer on sentry duty noticed smoke coming from the facility’s male housing unit and alerted a supervisor.
When the two officers entered the housing unit to investigate, they were allegedly confronted by a group of male detainees who assaulted and overpowered them before forcing open a gate and fleeing the compound.
Police said the detainees escaped along the western corridor before scaling the southern perimeter fence.
Law enforcement officers responded immediately, recapturing four of the escapees within minutes. Two were detained while attempting to climb the perimeter fence, while two others were apprehended nearby outside the facility.
A fifth detainee was arrested early Sunday morning along the Eastern Main Road in Wallerfield by officers from the Air Support Unit and the Northern North Task Force before being returned to the detention centre. Authorities also confirmed that another escapee, Manuel Henriquez, has since been recaptured.
The eight men still being sought have been identified as Luis Brito, Jose Brito, Roimer Duran, Edison Monroy, Felix Espanol, Edison La Rosa, Evereth Ramirez and Ernesto Jose Figuera Caicedo.
A large-scale search operation remains underway involving officers from the Northern North Criminal Investigations Department, Northern North Task Force, Air Support Unit, Inter-Agency Task Force, Canine Unit, Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service K-9 Unit, Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, Special Investigations Unit, Guard and Emergency Branch, and detention officers assigned to the Immigration Detention Centre.
The operation is being led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Suzette Martin, Assistant Commissioner of Police Vena Butler and Superintendent Steve McKenzie.
Investigators said several items of evidential value were recovered from the scene as part of the ongoing investigation.
The TTPS has warned that the eight men are unlawfully at large and cautioned that anyone who knowingly harbours, conceals, transports or otherwise assists them could face arrest and prosecution.
Police are urging members of the public with information on the fugitives’ whereabouts to contact the TTPS emergency services or their nearest police station.
The latest incident is not the first escape from the Arima Immigration Detention Centre. Five detainees escaped from the facility in June 2025, while 19 people escaped in three separate incidents in 2019, raising recurring concerns about security at the detention centre.
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