Piparo

Piparo is a village in Central Trinidad on the southern edge of the Central Range. The village has three main claims to fame:

1. Piparo was the base of operations of Dole Chadee (born Nankissoon Boodram), a notorious drug lord who was executed in 1999 for the murder of four members of the Baboolal family.
2. Piparo was the home of Ras Shorty I (born Garfield Blackman) after his retirement from the calypso world. Living simply in this rural community Ras Shorty I developed jamoo, a fusion of reggae, kaiso and gospel music.
3. Piparo was the site of a large mud volcano eruption in February 22, 1997. The eruption covered an area of 2.5 km² and displaced 31 families.

During the early twentieth century Piparo was an important cacao producer.

See also: Piparo, 1997, 1999, Cacao, Calypso, Caribbean, Dole Chadee, Execution, February 22