most of the attacks off Trinidad's coastline take place just before sunset, allowing the culprits to flee under the cover of darkness. Nobody, though, has any doubt where they escape to - Venezuela - where years of economic meltdown under socialist President Maduro has hundreds of jobless fishermen - and in some cases the national coastguard - into buccaneering.
The pirates are also prolific smugglers, running boatloads of cocaine and guns from Venezuela into Trinidad. Many of the firearms are thought to have come from members of Venezuela's underpaid security forces, who sell them to make ends meet.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Venezuelans take to piracy and smuggling
Bookmarks