One by one, the guns are cut into several pieces by a hydraulic clamp. Metaldom workers, police officers and gendarmes work long hours. In fact, in the last three years, the police, gendarmerie and customs have confiscated 692 weapons on the territory of Martinique.
The vast majority, 503, of the destroyed pistols and rifles were confiscated by law enforcement. 90 are from laid down arms operations and 99 from spontaneous deposits.
Seizures have been increasing since early 2022. This is the observation of Stanislas Cazelles, Prefect of Martinique.
Since January 1st we have seized 142 firearms. That is almost 25% more than in the first half of 2021
Figures confirmed by the Martinique Gendarmerie. General William Vaquette, commander of the gendarmerie on the island.
I’ve noticed for a few months that we used to be confiscating a gun every three days, now it’s every two days. A large proportion of the population, feeling insecure, buys guns, both legally and illegally, to protect themselves. And then there is another party that are serious criminals and have carried out 13 assassinations since the beginning of the year
Many of the weapons come from Russia after passing through Venezuela. The police also note the presence on the territory of American Glock-type automatic pistols or even weapons made in Brazil.
These pistols and other machine guns largely follow drug trafficking routes.
Clarisse Taron, Prosecutor of Fort-de-France:
There are actually DIY rigged weapons, alarm weapons that become deadly weapons. There are other weapons that enter the territory through similar channels such as drugs or illegal immigration
At the international level, investigations are being conducted with other Caribbean countries to break up these arms import networks.
“It’s long sometimes, but it leads to the result we’re seeing today,” notes Clarisse Taron.
The prosecution is concerned about this arms circulation. We’ve had 13 homicides and numerous armed robberies and attempted killings by people using guns since the beginning of the year
The head of the public prosecutor’s office nevertheless assures that the judiciary is showing real harshness towards those who carry weapons.
Any illegal gun owner is brought before the criminal court by immediate appearance, which ensures a speedy verdict. Last November, a person arrested in possession of weapons of war was sentenced to three years in prison and remanded in custody for three years the day after his arrest
For Stanislas Cazelles, in addition to the judicial response, there is also a preventive response.
We have relaunched all preventive measures, especially those related to controlling the sale of weapons. We will go further into the limitation of using trigger pistols. We will also relaunch Local Safety and Crime Prevention Contracts (CLSPD) at the community level.
In addition, the prefecture intends to crack down on bars where firearms are used. For example, Le Mokaï, where a murder was committed in June, is subject to an administrative closure for 6 months. “It’s about empowering owners, for whom we know the task of controlling entries is sometimes difficult,” the prefect warned.
In addition, a coastal surveillance radar is expected to be operational on Martinique by the end of 2023. As for the raid police officers promised by the government last March, their deployment will begin next September.