Philipsburg:--- Former Head of Immigration Marcel Loor who was condemned on St. Maarten for money laundering, fraud and forgery was arrested on Thursday in Paris while carrying one kilo of cocaine into France. Based on all indications the disgraced cop was traveling from St. Maarten to Paris with the drug but was caught when he arrived in Paris.
Sources from the Gendarmerie of St. Martin confirmed that Marcel Loor was arrested on Thursday in Paris and is now facing drug trafficking charges in France. Attorney General of St. Maarten Taco Stein said the French authorities already informed the Dutch authorities about Loor's arrest in Paris. Stein said they did not have any more details on the arrest; all they know is that Marcel Loor was arrested with cocaine in Paris.
According to well placed sources, Loor visited an insurance company on Tuesday in Philipsburg seeking to purchase travel insurance but did not buy the package because in his opinion the insurance was too expensive. An agent from the insurance company told SMN News that Loor did not want to pay $3.50 per day per person for the travel insurance which has a value of $5,000.00. The agent said Loor did not even want to tell them how many people were traveling with him neither did he want to tell them when he intended to return to St. Maarten. "He said it was not worth purchasing travel insurance for that price because he had no intention to stay off island for a long period of time."
It should be noted that customs at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) does not focus on out-bound flights instead they focus on in-bound flights. During the months of May and June customs at the Princess Juliana International Airport did not have their dogs to sniff bags because their dogs were in heat and could not work during that period of time. A technician at the PJIAE told SMN News that PJIAE has the best scanners but the employees that are working those scanners are not sufficiently qualified to use the scanners to detect drugs when it's placed in suitcases. "St. Maarten is a hub and while the island is considered to be a main location used to take drugs to Europe, it is sad that Government and Airport management does not seek to train its employees to use the equipments they have optimally."
The Commandant of the Gendarmerie on St. Martin could not be reached for an official comment, while Prosecutor Flavien Noailles is currently in Guadeloupe and also could not be reached. SMN News is still busy gathering more information on the arrest of Marcel Loor..
