PHILIPSBURG:--- The Judge of Instruction on Friday, November 18, 2016, granted the custody of J.M. with eight (8) days. The Prosecutor’s Office requested for the suspects to be remanded. The employee of the immigration department and her partner D.F. were arrested on Monday, November 14, 2016. They are suspected of human smuggling, bribery and abuse of her post. D.F. meanwhile has been released from pre-trial detention by the Judge of Instruction but remains a suspect in the ongoing investigation.
The arrests were the result of a lengthy investigation that has been ongoing since April 2016, code-named Ostrich. It’s 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.
Prosecutor's Office Bulletin
\r\n\t\t\t\t\tImmigration employee to spend 8 more days in pretrial detention.
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