Inside KPSM’s push to tighten the net on gun trafficking, choke firearm flows

GREAT BAY--Since 2024 the Caribbean has seen a sharper influx of illegal firearms, driven by shipments hidden in commercial cargo and small parcels, parts carried by passengers, and maritime runs that slip past busy ports. Tracing consistently links many recovered weapons to U.S. retail markets, while most seizures still occur on island streets rather than at entry points, a gap traffickers exploit. St. Maarten sits inside that regional pattern, and officers have tightened street controls while coordinating with Customs and the Coast Guard to intercept weapons before they circulate.

KPSM moved from sporadic crackdowns to a steady mix of street enforcement, targeted checks, amnesty, and forensic upgrades. The approach mirrors how guns travel in the region, in cargo and mail, in pieces with travelers, along coastal lanes from U.S. states. International reporting provides the backdrop, however the execution is local, coordinated with Customs, the Coast Guard, the Prosecutor’s Office, and counterparts on French St. Martin.

On the streets police have kept pressure on the most visible risks. Holiday controls and weekend spot checks have produced a stream of handgun recoveries during vehicle and scooter stops, with arrests that feed supplier investigations. In early 2025 KPSM set a clear public line, zero tolerance for illegal firearms, more searches under lawful authority, and targeted patrols in areas with repeat activity. The message is simple: carry a gun, lose the gun and your freedom.

At the same time the force tried to change the choices available to residents who may be holding a weapon for protection or status. The Stop, Drop, and GO amnesty allowed people to surrender firearms without identification, receipts were issued, and the Prosecutor’s Office publicly supported the program. KPSM extended the window as turn ins grew, logging each handover, from unlicensed handguns to a .22 caliber rifle. Amnesty is not a cure all, it is a way to remove hardware from circulation while the rest of the system tightens.

Carnival brought a second strand of the strategy into view. A court authorized preventive search order permitted person and vehicle searches in defined twelve hour windows, a lawful tool that raises the perceived risk of carrying. Coupled with visible checkpoints, it became harder to move a gun across town during the busiest weeks of the year. KPSM stresses that these are not random dragnets, they are planned operations within the Firearms Ordinance and the Code of Criminal Procedure, with time limits and geographic scope.

Borders remain the hard problem. A recent Law Enforcement Council inspection noted that most illegal firearms are recovered on land rather than intercepted at sea or at ports, and urged stronger joint controls and better shared data. KPSM and Customs responded with more joint cargo inspections, greater use of shipment risk profiles, and tighter coordination with the Coast Guard. In late July Customs reported weapons concealed in commercial cargo during a routine check, a case that immediately broadened into a larger inquiry. These interdictions are labor intensive, they depend on intelligence, scanners, canine teams, and quick action when paperwork looks wrong or a package weighs more than it should.

Public debate has turned to the water as well. Commenters on social media point to yacht seizures elsewhere in the region and argue for more checks on vessels transiting the Simpson Bay Bridge, mooring inside the Lagoon, or anchoring outside. Many add a caution, do not scare off mega yacht visitors who support marinas, supporting marine businesses, and restaurants.

Because trafficking is not only a hardware problem, KPSM has invested in forensics and training. With CARICOM IMPACS support, officers and technicians completed ballistic evidence work in Philipsburg, part of a regional push to standardize how bullets and casings are collected and compared. The goal is clear: link crime scenes to each other, link guns to shooters, and link local recoveries to a wider supply chain. That evidence chain also strengthens requests to international partners who can trace serial numbers, conversion parts, or shipping labels back to U.S. sources.

Routes demand tailored countermeasures. Commercial cargo requires document verification, x ray screening, and layered inspections that one clever concealment cannot defeat. Small parcels and mail call for profiling by weight and origin, fast secondary checks, and close cooperation with couriers. Passenger flows call for visible patrols and lawful searches around nightlife areas and busy roads. Maritime movement calls for Coast Guard patrols at sea, and rapid Police and Customs follow up on shore when small craft offload and contents disperse by car within minutes.

For KPSM, success will be measured by prevention as much as seizure counts: fewer illegal guns after the amnesty period, more arrests tied to structured investigations rather than chance encounters, more interdictions at points of entry rather than in neighborhoods, and faster ballistic links that close cases before retaliation takes root. Partners have matching roles: Customs and the Coast Guard at the border, Immigration in mixed cargo checks, the Prosecutor’s Office in authorizing special operations and filing charges that stick, and the courts in balancing firm enforcement with rights.

The work is procedural and relentless, not made for headlines. It relies on enough officers to staff roving traffic teams and cargo lines, on shared data systems that let Police, Customs, and the Prosecutor see the same picture, and on a public that will hand over a weapon rather than pass it to a cousin.

The regional pattern is clear, many Caribbean guns begin their journey far from Great Bay, often purchased legally and diverted later. The local response needs to be just as clear: harden entry points, raise the cost of carrying, make surrender simple, and turn every seized gun into a lead that moves the next case forward.