MARIGOT:--- On February 16, 2020, in the early afternoon, a couple was the victim of long-term extortion at their home in Belle Plaine. Two individuals, brandishing a weapon, wanted to be given a large sum of money that the protagonists had seen a few hours earlier in the hands of one of the victims appearing on social networks. Unsuccessful, the criminals threatened to attack the infant present in the home, then one of them ended up shooting one of the victims in the foot, who succeeded despite the injury to escape. Very quickly on the spot, the gendarmes made the observations and exploited the first testimonies allowing them to direct their investigation on criminals living partly on the Dutch side of the island. The case took a turn when on August 25, 2021, during a roadside check, a motorcyclist refused to obey a gendarmerie patrol.
The latter was arrested by the search device set up and was quickly confused as being one of the two criminals. He will be placed in pre-trial detention as part of an opening of information for the facts of theft aggravated by 3 circumstances, violence aggravated by 2 circumstances, and death threats
Judged on March 22, 2023, at the Basse Terre Court, the defendant was sentenced to 7 years with continued detention and a permanent ban from French territory. The Public Prosecutor of Basse Terre and the Gendarmerie would like to remind you that they are making every effort to ensure that the perpetrators of these particularly serious acts are tried. They recall the firmness in the fight against detention, illegal transport, and the use of firearms which constitute a priority for the soldiers of COMGEND Guadeloupe. Finally, they recall that using social networks is a privileged means for criminals to choose their victims. Good digital hygiene, as well as being used in a restricted circle, is encouraged. "For example, the broadcast of a live broadcast in an evening is of paramount importance for the criminal who wishes to burglarize your home. He then has the certainty of being able to commit his act in complete serenity". And Colonel Wintzer-Wehekind concludes:
“This case is enlightening on two points. The first is the relevance of flow control, which helps to secure the use of a congested road network, to fight against trafficking, and to apprehend wanted people. These checks are therefore intended to continue and even intensify. The second point reminds us that the cyber threat exists in Saint Martin elsewhere. Digital is a medium of action favored by criminals who can use it exclusively (Ransomware, Blackmail) or combined with physical actions in the material world. In a territory that consumes a lot of social networks, a little digital sobriety does not harm, quite the contrary”. The gendarmerie reminds that an information site on cyber risks is available to the inhabitants of the islands of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy (https://www.cybermalveillance.gouv.fr/) and that the gendarmes are present to answer their questions in the field."
