While armed robberies are often publicized and give a negative image of the island as a tourist destination, they are not the only scourge of concern.
Car thefts are just as worrying. According to investigators on both sides of the island, the stolen vehicles do not leave the island, they are simply made up and sold. "There is a real path," noted the police three years ago, who had observed nearly 400 incidents between 2012 and 2015. This is still confirmed by the gendarmes today.
In 2016, the authorities in Sint Maarten took action to make the re-registration rules more restrictive by making the Bill of Sale, the transfer document, "official".
The measure made it possible to reduce the number of vehicles stolen in the Dutch part, but not very significantly. According to Sint Maarten police statistics, 146 car thefts were recorded in 2016, only 37 less compared to 2012.
But what challenges most is the difference in the number of facts still observed between the two sides of the island: they are always clearly superior in the French part where the administrative system of transfer and registration is more strict.
In 2012, gendarmes recorded 281 thefts from Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, 100 more than the Dutch police or 1,5 times more. In 2016, the difference had narrowed to 58 but thefts were still 1,4 times higher in the French part. Last year nearly 336 thefts were observed in Saint Martin, + 17% compared to 2017; however, police statistics have not been published for the past two years.
Another questioning observation is the following: it is not uncommon for French residents to recognize their vehicle stolen a few weeks earlier and that it was registered on the Dutch side. This suggests that the cars are stolen on the French side and put back into circulation on the Dutch side after being made up. (soualigapost.com)
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