On Tuesday morning, January 17, 2017 two employees of the immigration service were arrested suspected of human smuggling, bribery and abuse of their post. K.L.M.B. (34) and A.A.D. (33) were arrested around 6:20 am.
The arrests are the result of a lengthy investigation that has been ongoing since April 2016, code-named Ostrich. It concerns an investigation carried out by the Unit Human Trafficking and Human Smuggling of the St. Maarten Police Force, KPSM into illegal admittance of Jamaicans and Haitians.
The arrests were carried out by members of this unit in conjunction with the National Detectives Agency.
On November 14, 2016 another employee of the immigration service, J.M. was arrested in the same investigation. She is still detained while her partner D.F. who was also arrested has been released from pre-trial detention. He remains a suspect in the ongoing investigation