PHILIPSBURG:— On Friday the 17th of February 2017 a departing passenger was scanned by the new PJIA E-gate system. During the passport scanning process, it became clear that the passenger tried to leave St Maarten using a false passport. He was arrested by personnel of the St Maarten Police Force / Immigration and Border Protection Service, for further investigations. In cooperation with the office of Interpol St Maarten, it appeared that the suspect was in the possession of several passports and ID cards, using a total of 3 different nationalities and identities.
During the investigation on one of these identities, it became clear that he was a Cuban-born American citizen. His arrest was warranted, via a so-called Interpol ‘red notice’ (international arrest warrant) on request of the US authorities. As a result of this cooperation and on order of the Attorney Generals office, the suspect was arrested with a view towards extradition. The suspect will be led by a judge of instruction on the 20th of February 2017. The suspect is wanted by the US authorities in an investigation into large-scale fraud in which millions of US dollars were gained between 2006 and 2012.
KPSM Press Release
Source: St. Martin News Network
Cuban American arrest on the request of Interpol.
I am not trying to stir up anything this is just an observation. I was bothered by the headline regarding the “Cuban-American” that arrested at the airport. Why Cuban-American? The guy was an American Citizen arrested for all kinds of illegal stuff. Just an American. We don’t need divisive headlines. I am an American an embarrassed an American citizen was arrested for illegal activity on the island I love. Just an American. Doesn’t make a difference where the hyphen comes from. The dude was an American citizen arrested for illegal activity. Good job.