Immigration officer
suspect in drug bust
PHILIPSBURG--Chief Prosecutor Taco Stein has confirmed that a female Immigration officer who was detained on Friday in connection with Thursday’s drug bust is suspected of involvement in the import of drugs to the island.
According to Stein, the Immigration officer is regarded for the moment as a co-conspirator in the operation that resulted in the discovery of 92 kilos of marijuana.
Her detention is part of a Kingdom Detective Cooperation Team RST investigation, which led to the arrest of at least four suspects by the Coast Guard 12 miles off the coast of Montserrat around 10:00pm Thursday.
No news of the arrest was learnt until Friday, when the Coast Guard towed the sailing yacht Blue Moon in to the Simpson Bay station with the suspects on board. One of the suspects was injured on the right leg when he was struck by fragments of bullets fired by Coast Guard officers trying to disable the boat’s engine.
Once the suspects were at the Philipsburg police station, police apprehended a female Immigration officer working at Princess Juliana International Airport on suspicion of her involvement in the operation as well.
Regarding the transhipment of the illegal substance by sea, Stein said he did not think there was a particular shift in the method of operation by drug smugglers, although this drug bust was the third in recent months.
He said it was usual for smugglers to use the airport for mainly small quantities of cocaine, while large shipments of drugs were shipped through seaports. It was especially enticing for drug smugglers to use St. Maarten, he said, because the island has a great many access points for landing.
However, Customs and the Coast Guard are vigilant and constantly on the lookout for new trends in the transhipment of drugs, he said.
