This study examines the role of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force in combating the illegal drug trade in view of the harmful effects narco trafficking is having on the nation. It compares and contrasts the different counterdrug models used by the United States and Trinidad and Tobago. It analyses the functions of the government organizations in support of national interests and the counterdrug effort at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of military operations other than war (MOOTW). The evidence shows that role of the military in the Trinidad and Tobago model is minimal, piecemeal, and ineffective and can be compared to the pre-1989 United States model. The United States model is synchronized and coordinated and provides a comprehensive effort to counterdrug operations. Trinidad and Tobago should adopt a modified version of the United States model with an enhanced role for the Defence Force in the new model. The Defence Force can provide the means whereby there is synchronization and coordination throughout the counterdrug effort at all levels of MOOTW and in support of national interests and objectives. This would provide Trinidad and Tobago with a new comprehensive, coordinated, and synchronized model for counterdrug operations that is national in scope.
