Nearly 150 investigations were opened in Martinique, after the violence accompanied by looting committed on the sidelines of the blockades and the general strike, which began on November 22, 2021, said the prosecutor of the Republic of Fort- of France.
In total, about fifty people were referred including a dozen placed in detention, declared the prosecutor, Clarisse Taron, on the local television ViaATV, specifying that
"the most serious and the heaviest cases are still to come"
.
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As part of these judicial investigations, the Martinique gendarmerie proceeded to a new arrest Tuesday evening.
This is a man from Saint Lucia, suspected of concealment and placed in police custody, after the looting and burglaries perpetrated in recent days in various businesses on the island.
Pharmacies have been victims of acts of vandalism, as have several supermarket chains, shops, and even a sorting center, where dozens of Christmas packages have been disembowelled and their contents stolen.
Delinquency and criminality feed on disorder because when there is social disorder, the security forces are rather on the roadblocks.
"
General William Vaquette, commander of the Martinique gendarmerie
"For three days, we have been stepping up operations to intercept the looters but also the concealments of looting,"
General William Vaquette, commander of the Martinique gendarmerie, told AFP. He cited in particular
"a van with branded clothes, two wheels, a lot of products of which we did not know the origin, which had just been loaded into a skiff
(Editor's note: traditional fishing boat)
, which probably left for Sainte- Lucie ”
. The judicial investigation will determine whether these are the concealments of the looting which took place during these last ten days of crisis in the territory. But according to the gendarmerie, these products could be resold in contraband in Saint Lucia, located 87 kilometers south of Martinique.
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Investigators indeed suspect gangs in Saint Lucia of having ordered looting on the sidelines of violence linked to the social crisis in Martinique.
"Delinquency and criminality feed on disorder because when there is social disorder, the security forces are rather on the roadblocks, must intervene on arson which are sometimes traps to fix the security forces and during this time to try to plunder, ”
declared General Vaquette.
Nearly twenty gendarmes were injured during the nightly violence linked to the social crisis.
For several months, the Martinican and Saint Lucian security forces have been working in close collaboration to fight against smuggling, and the coasts of the two islands have been particularly monitored, with the help of the French Navy.