ABANDONED: The family's new home in San Francique. Photo: Trinidad Express

The thieves were “organised” in their approach to the robbery, with one being the mastermind and another whose only job was to wipe away fingerprints.

The attack happened at Gayah Trace, San Francique, at a home still under construction owned by a 40-year-old man, his 32-year-old wife, and two children, aged eight and two years.

The man is employed as a salesman and the woman is a housewife.

While they were not physically harmed, the 30-minute ordeal has left the family traumatised and they have packed their belongings and left their new home.

“Imagine sleeping in the dead of night and you hear a banging on your door and people shouting ‘we coming in!’ This is a different level of crime,” the woman said.

It is believed that one of four men scaled the wall and unlocked a gate at the back of the house, through which three other thieves entered the premises.

Another man waited in the getaway car parked nearby.

Using a blow torch, the thieves cut through another metal door and burglar proofing, and entered the house.

It was around 3.30 a.m. when the family was awakened by the banging on the bedroom door on the ground floor of their home.

The woman said four thieves, wearing hats, faces covered with bandanas, and armed with guns and cutlasses, burst through the door.

Using duct tape, the thieves bound the couple’s hands, feet and covered their mouths.

The children awoke and cried as their parents were held accosted by the thieves.

The woman said that it appeared that the thieves had co-ordinated their approach in the robbery.

“They were very professional and they knew what they were doing. One was talking on a cell phone the whole time, and telling the others what to do and to ‘hurry up’. While one person was pulling out the drawers and grabbing things, another man was wiping away the fingerprints the others were leaving,” she told the Express.

The woman said her husband and sons were left in the bedroom and two of the thieves took her through each room of the house to show where the valuables were kept.

They packed up a quantity of US and local currency, household items, the couple’s wallets, jewelry, and appliances.

However, the thieves did not get time to pack all of the loot as one of the neighbours realised that a robbery was in progress and turned the lights on in his house.

“The dogs were constantly barking and apparently one of the neighbours switched on his lights. He called the police. The bandits then hurried up and left before the police came,” she said.

She said that several bottles of alcohol were left behind by the thieves.