Sandman: Trinidad's Most Feared Kingpin and the Night Men Said They Were Police
The Griot | Stories Roots LegacyShow Notes
In the early hours of 25 July 2019, men came to a steel gate at a house on School Street in Las Cuevas, on Trinidad's north coast, and said they were the police. Vaughn "Sandman" Mieres, his wife Alika Dehere and two of his men, Nigel Octim and Kadir Joseph, were killed.
Police called Mieres a reputed drug and gun smuggler. Many people in his village called him a provider. This film follows the public record: the 2011 case that was dismissed, the 2017 conspiracy charge and bail, the allegations about two boats that went down in the Gulf of Paria, the attack on his children's school van in June 2019, the night of the killings, the man charged over them, the police shooting of Akini "Dole" Adams in Sea Lots the same day, and what the courts never held. As far as the public record we could reach shows, Mieres was never convicted. Allegations in this film are allegations and are attributed to their sources.
This film uses AI-generated reenactments to depict events described in news reports and public records. It is not actual footage. Some details of appearance and setting are artistic interpretations; the people other than Mieres are fictional likenesses.
Chapters 0:00 Title and notice 0:14 Trailer 0:52 The record opens 1:58 What the courts ever held 3:22 The boats 4:47 June 2019 5:43 The night 7:15 Shorto 8:25 The same day 9:53 The funeral 11:16 The record
Sources Trinidad Guardian (25-26 July 2019, 2 August 2019 court report, "Sandman's life of crime", "Two gang leaders killed on same day", "Reclaiming Las Cuevas, Sea Lots, after Sandman and Dole"); Trinidad Express (25-26 July 2019, 2 August 2019, 2017 charge and bail reports, "Wife hid in cupboard", "Police swarm Las Cuevas"); Newsday Trinidad (25-26 July 2019, 14 June 2020); TV6, Stabroek News, Loop News and AZP News reports; Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network, "Silence on Both Sides of the Gulf"; InsightCrime on the Gulf of Paria boats. Court outcome after the August 2019 charge was not found in public reporting.
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