Illegal Radio equipment seized in police raid in Trinidad

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From the Trinidad Express</A>...



TRINIDAD - Arima man on $45,000 bail



ARIMA businessman Mervyn Dedier being brought to the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court yesterday.



THOUGH police allegedly seized 76 pieces of electronic equipment from his home, Arima businessman Mervyn Dedier appeared in court yesterday charged with possession of just seven of the items.





Shortly before 4 p.m. the dishevelled-looking Dedier was escorted from the Port of Spain CID to appear before senior magistrate Deborah Thomas-Felix in the Port of Spain Fourth Court.




On Wednesday, police raided Dedier’s home on Columbus Street, Arima, where close to a “quarter million” dollars worth of scanners, Citizens Band radios, transmitters, receivers and amplifiers were allegedly seized. The items, which also allegedly included devices that could monitor cellular calls, were deemed a “threat to national security”.




In court yesterday, however, Dedier was charged with one count of possession of wireless apparatus without obtaining a licence from the relevant authorities. The apparatus included four Yeasu HF transceivers, one Kenwood HF transceiver, and two HF transceivers.
The charge is said to have stemmed from a 1936 ordinance.




Dedier pleaded not guilty.




Magistrate Thomas-Felix granted him $45,000 bail to be approved by the Clerk of the Peace, either in Arima or Port of Spain. The matter was then transferred to the Arima Magistrate’s First Court and Dedier was ordered to re-appear there on August 23.