T&T police chief feared Jamaicans boy­cotting products over Buju search

The Trinidad and Tobago Commissioner of Police, Gary Griffith, said his country risked Jamaicans boycotting goods produced in the twin-island republic had he not intervened in the Buju Banton saga.

Griffith on Saturday visited Buju Banton at the Hilton Trinidad to apologise for a search carried out by several police officers. The search turned up nothing illegal. A day later, he joined Buju Banton on stage at his I am Legend Concert, again in an apologetic mood. He promised that T&T and Jamaica would remain "allies forever."

"Had I not done this, relations between both countries could have been severely affected," Griffith was quoted by the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian as having said.

"Possible boycotts of our products and other private sector sanctions were also on the table. If others are not aware or care about this due to ego over common sense, I cannot help that."

"I did what was needed to be done, not to please those who have nothing better to do other than criticise due to their inability to understand the bigger picture," the senior cop said.

Meanwhile, Griffith announced the revamping of the unit in the wake of the incident, saying that while he had been contemplating it before, the embarrassment of the Banton raid made it an absolute necessity.

"This situation that took place recently with the search warrant with Buju Banton, I think again, based on intelligence, what you need to do is make sure there is proper surveillance. Someone obviously dropped the ball. It could have caused a major rift between Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica," Griffith said.