Reprinted from the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
ON May 7, heavily-armed Antiguan police officers searched a house in Hodges Bay as part of the ongoing investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Trinidadian national Thomas Vasquez.
A woman was taken into custody during the operation. She is believed to have spoken with Vasquez on the night of his arrival to the island on April 14 and is reportedly professionally linked to the marijuana farm where he was employed. She was released same day.
Also arrested at the home was a senior male employee of the same farm and a young woman.
Up to midday on May 8, he was still in police custody but had not been charged. His arrest has only deepened speculation surrounding the case. It is unclear if the young woman is still in police custody.
Last week, in three separate operations, police searched the English Harbour Marina, locally known as Pharm Dock, for a boat suspected to be connected to Vasquez’s disappearance. Though the boat was not located, a source close to the investigation said it allegedly belongs to a close associate of the senior employee now in custody.
Vasquez vanished without a trace on April 15, just one day after returning to Antigua to resume work at what was believed to be a legal cannabis cultivation site. However, as investigators become more familiar with the case, questions have emerged about the farm’s legitimacy and operations.
According to reports, after arriving on April 14, Vasquez spent the evening drinking with a coworker at a local bar. He reportedly later stayed the night at the home of a couple who dropped him off at the farm the next morning. A farm employee said Vasquez spent the day sleeping on the premises, but by the end of that day, he was nowhere to be found.
Adding a grim layer to the mystery is the death of another farm worker just weeks earlier. On March 24, 27-year-old Jahkeem Browne was found shot to death at the abandoned site of Bruce’s Night Club in Hatton. The investigation into Browne’s murder remains open and unsolved.
However, in a phone interview with Newsday on May 8, Browne’s mother disputed claims he worked on the farm.
Vasquez was initially hired in 2024 by a fellow Trinidadian to work at the farm.
