SINT MAARTEN
Fighting Caribbean crime
Situated in the Northern part of the Caribbean islands string, the island of Sint Maarten sits on shipping routes linking the Americas, Europe and Africa, making it attractive to global organized crime groups wishing to transport illegal merchandise between these regions.
Sint Maarten has a busy international airport, large cruise ship facilities and thriving marine trade. It enjoys a popular tourism industry and is host to numerous global music, carnival and sailing events, which attract people from all over the world. These multicultural global characteristics also provide potential markets to global organized crime groups.
Sint Maarten’s principal crime challenges are trafficking in drugs, firearms, people, counterfeits, in addition to money laundering and bulk cash smuggling.
The international features of these crime areas and their links with organized crime groups around the world make the role of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) in Philipsburg fundamental to maintaining national and regional security.
INTERPOL in Sint Maarten
The NCB in Philipsburg is part of the Sint Maarten Police Force. Through the exchange, storage and cross referencing of operational and tactical data, NCB Philipsburg reinforces the ability of its national law enforcement agencies to fight international crime and help safeguard national borders and security.
The NCB coordinates the operational side of Sint Maarten’s law enforcement action relating to global and regional criminal investigations, particularly as it relates to organized drug trafficking and fugitive investigations.
By providing globally-sourced intelligence about regional crime, the NCB helps police officers across Sint Maarten detect and investigate the flow of illicit goods along trafficking routes in and around the country. It plays a central role in preventing the country and surrounding region from serving international organized crime.
The NCB takes part regularly in global INTERPOL-led police operations which focus on regional organized crime.
Law enforcement in Sint Maarten
Law enforcement services in Sint Maarten are provided by the Sint Maarten Police Force (Korps Politie Sint Maarten) which is part of the Ministry of Justice.
The force is headed by a Chief Commissioner who is assisted by two Commissioners – one heads the uniformed services, and the other heads the criminal investigations police.
