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) during his self-imposed break from the soca world. Living simply in this rural community Ras Shorty-I developed Jamoo, a fusion of soca and gospel music.
3. Piparo was the site of a large mud volcano eruption on February 22, 1997. The eruption covered an area of 2.5 km² and displaced 31 families. The mud volcano now lies inactive where the eruption took place.

During the early twentieth century Piparo was an important cocoa bean producer.

The small village is mainly inhabited by people of East Indian descent. There are Hindu temples and mosques and there is one main church.

Since the eruption in 1997, an alternate road to the village has been established through the village of Guaracara.

Coordinates: 10°20′N 61°20′W / 10.333°N 61.333°W

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  Remants of the damage, 11 yrs later

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  Piparo damage

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  Main vent at Piparo