VKSer says he was working
for Loor’s security outfit
PHILIPSBURG--The local authorities are investigating reports that an officer of the Voluntary Corps St. Maarten VKS who was detained two Tuesdays ago for illegal possession of a firearm had been working for a security outfit linked to Police Commissioner Marcel Loor.
VKS Commander Major Jean Illidge confirmed on Wednesday that the VKS officer in question has been suspended pending the outcome of criminal charges for illegal possession of a firearm.
Illidge said the officer had not been working on direct police orders or on orders of the VKS when he was found in the Pelican Key area in possession of the weapon and providing armed security services.
The VKS officer reportedly told his superior officers, the weapon in question had been given to him by his employer Loor.
Chief Prosecutor Taco Stein said Wednesday that the matter has not been formally brought to the attention of the Prosecutor’s Office for a decision and as such, he could not say much about the incident.
He said the possession of an illegal weapon was a serious matter, but he needed clarity about the circumstances under which the VKS officer had come into possession of the gun.
He said the Prosecutor’s Office had to be certain that the weapon had not been given to the VKS officer by police for police-related work, or by the VKS. He also said that once the VKS commander decided the matter would not be dealt with internally, most likely it would be handed over to his office.
The VKS officer was detained June 12 and then released after police detectives had confiscated the gun. Shortly after that incident, Loor was stripped of his weapons and suspended. He was then detained on Tuesday morning by Federal Detectives who are continuing their probe into allegations of forgery and bribery made against him.
