Blue Waters Owners Challenge Detention as Murder Conspiracy Investigation Deepens

The owners of Blue Waters, a beverage company with a significant presence in Saint Lucia, have mounted a legal challenge against their continued detention after being arrested as part of a Trinidad and Tobago police investigation into an alleged conspiracy to commit murder.

According to the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, businessman Dominic Hadeed, 52, and his wife, Genevieve Hadeed, 42, were detained after investigators executed search warrants on June 24 in connection with the alleged offence. While the warrants identify the offence as conspiracy to murder under Trinidad and Tobago’s Offences Against the Person Act, they do not disclose the identity of any intended victim.

Hours after details of the investigation emerged, the couple and Genevieve Hadeed’s 69-year-old aunt, Star Sabga, were placed under Preventive Detention Orders and transferred to prison. Authorities have not publicly disclosed the alleged offence for which Sabga is being held.

The latest development came after High Court Judge Frank Seepersad declined to immediately grant an urgent habeas corpus application filed on behalf of Dominic and Genevieve Hadeed. Instead, the judge directed Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro to explain the legal basis for their continued detention and scheduled the matter for a virtual hearing.

Court documents indicate investigators searched four properties linked to the couple, including locations at Orange Grove Estate, Trincity, Western Circle, Westmoorings, Golden Grove Road, Piarco and Bayshore, Westmoorings.

The search warrants stated investigators believed electronic devices at the properties could contain evidence relevant to the investigation, including photographs, videos, voice notes, audio recordings, CCTV footage, documents, text messages, GPS and location history, application data, communications records and other digitally stored information.

During the searches, police reportedly seized numerous electronic devices, including multiple Apple iPhones, laptops, iPads, flash drives, hard drives, a central processing unit and a portable storage device.

According to affidavits filed by Senior Counsel Faris Al-Rawi, Genevieve Hadeed contacted him shortly after police arrived at the couple’s Bayshore residence. She reportedly said officers searched the home after presenting a warrant authorising the seizure of electronic devices and that several heavily armed officers were present while devices belonging to the couple and their children were taken.

The affidavit further claimed the Hadeeds were only informed they were under arrest after the searches had been completed.

Police later escorted Dominic Hadeed to Blue Waters’ Orange Grove offices, where investigators searched his office and seized additional electronic devices. He was subsequently taken to Gulf City Mall, where officers confiscated firearms and ammunition that were reportedly lawfully held under a Firearm User’s Licence after receipts confirming payment of the 2026 licensing fees were presented.

The legal challenge also raises concerns over the conditions in which the couple has been held.

Al-Rawi alleged that Genevieve Hadeed was detained in a small cell at the Woodbrook Police Station with poor sanitation, inadequate ventilation and no running water. He also claimed consultations between attorney and client were conducted within earshot of a police officer.

Dominic Hadeed’s legal team further alleged that despite police being informed he suffers from sleep apnea and requires a CPAP machine each night, he was forced to sleep on a concrete slab without access to electricity to operate the medical device.

The application also questions the legality of the couple’s continued detention under Trinidad and Tobago’s Emergency Powers Regulations. Their attorneys argue the regulations cannot lawfully be used to justify detention in an investigation centred on an alleged conspiracy to commit murder, maintaining that the couple has remained willing to cooperate with investigators throughout the probe.

However, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has maintained that Preventive Detention Orders were lawfully obtained under the Emergency Powers Regulations. Police said the orders were executed in the presence of the detainees’ attorneys and that the three individuals remain in the custody of the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service while assisting investigators.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Source: Trinidad and Tobago Guardian.

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