Marlon Burke Jr

By the Trinidad Express:

FEBRUARY 21 this year was not only the ‘coming of age’ or turning into an adult milestone for Marlon Burke Junior, but it was also the trifecta birthday-turning 21 on the 21st day of the month in the year 2021.

Family and friends gathered and shared in Marlon’s favourite food, while the music he loved played in the background.

But missing was Marlon Jnr, and the candles that were lit were among a pictorial shrine dedicated to him, symbolic of the fervent prayers offered to find his way back home.

His father, Marlon Burke Snr, said the gathering in his son’s honour was to help heal and soothe the grief that family and friends had been suffering since his son’s disappearance on November 10, 2019.

That evening, marijuana traffickers called the family and demanded $25,000 for the 19-year-old’s return.

Only at that moment did the father knew his son had been sucked into the world of the illicit drug trade and had fallen victim to local traffickers who are pawns in the billion-dollar industry, which challenges every area of national security.

It is bizarre to his father that Marlon Jnr had become entangled with people associated with criminal activities since his life-long ambition was to be a soldier.

Marlon Jnr had exhibited the necessary self-discipline and focus as a cadet at secondary school, and seeking to realise his dream by gaining his school passes to enter the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force.

Outside influences

Marlon Snr spoke with the Express this week and told his tale of a single father trying to raise his four children after he lost his wife to cancer.

‘Marlon’s mom died when he was five years old. Her name was Josette Harrilal. She passed away from breast cancer when she was 33 years old.

‘I was a single parent most of the time. My family thought I was too stern with him. He was a member of the cadets and he always said he wanted to join the military.

‘I was constantly on his case to not be idle and seeking his interest to be involved in positive things. At times I was told that I was too hard on him.

‘Now the same people say I was not hard enough on him. But I think it was simply him following the wrong company, probably at school,’ he said.

‘I was born and bred in the city of Port of Spain. I had the willpower to stay away from certain things while I lived there. I moved out to keep my children out of that environment, as outside influences have a large part to play in raising children.

‘We live at Tumpuna Road, Arima. I used to work Sunday to Sunday as a single parent. I worked constantly to provide a home and everything for my kids. I think his involvement might have started at school. Outside of school, we didn’t have that around the house or in our circle,’ he said.

‘We were shocked’

On the fateful day, Marlon Snr and other members of the family were headed to Port of Spain to meet relatives. There was not enough room in the car and Marlon Jnr said he was headed to ‘check a friend’ and would meet them later.

Marlon Snr said, ‘Later, about 6 p.m. a strange phone number called my phone and when I answered, it was him on the other end.

‘He said that some guys had kidnapped him. He said he had money for them and that they needed it. The call dropped off. I tried calling back but nothing.

‘At that same time, they contacted other relatives-his aunt and sister-and told them Marlon needed $25,000.

‘It was Sunday, so we told them to give us until Monday to organise the money. We never heard from them after that. I later learned he got caught up in an illegal drug transaction. Somebody robbed somebody of money or marijuana, and Marlon got caught to pay for it.’

The father said, ‘We were shocked, even his friends who were close to him from cadets were shocked.

‘He had already obtained five O-Levels but didn’t pass maths so we signed him up to repeat maths to acquire the pass. He was working at a grocery in the meantime. He attended Malabar Secondary.’

Marlon Snr said police got involved in the case, and their initial efforts made the family optimistic. ‘We got good policing from some units.

‘They had asked for footage from neighbours. But outside of that, there was not enough action concerning the information they were given.

‘I think the Anti-Kidnapping Unit is overwhelmed with cases and the amount of work they had to do. I witnessed different units arguing certain information they were given but there was no action. It was difficult to stomach,’ he said.

‘A troubling part of this was that people had associated us with Cedric Burke. People in my neighbourhood thought we were associated but that is not true.’

No closure

The father said his investigations led him to Pleasantville in San Fernando to where his son’s phone was tracked on the evening of his disappearance.

The phone was pinged to locations at first in Belmont and then Pleasantville, from Sunday afternoon, all into the night until 11 p.m.

‘The police told me they would not go to particular places without a certain amount of manpower. After about a week of waiting, I went on my own. I took flyers that I had printed and I went looking for my son. I drove around the entire area and posted flyers, left some by a gas station and by the plaza. We never got any feedback,’ he said.

The family also issued a reward of $10,000 for information that would assist in the case. But that too has not helped.

‘Someone knows something about my son but they never said anything. Give us some sort of information. Anything at all may be significant enough to help us get some closure. He didn’t just disappear off the face of the earth,’ said the father.

‘This year for his birthday we cooked the food he liked, invited his friends and played music. Several of his friends came by for his birthday, and a lot of them were not even aware of all this marijuana business, they were so surprised.

‘People say Marlon Jnr had no reason or place to be involved in the marijuana trade. We don’t know where he is. Until we get some sort of closure, we live in hope that he is still alive,’ he said.