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Guns entering USVI via airports & mail- Police Commissioner reveals

The weapons collected from across the US Virgin Islands – over 60 thus far this year – will be destroyed in a publicly staged event. Photo: VIC
VI CONSORTIUM

CHRISTIANSTED, St Croix, USVI- Police Commissioner Mario M. Brooks on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, dispelled long-held rumors that guns pouring into the US Virgin Islands were coming from large containers by sea freight. Speaking during WTJX's town hall on crime, Mr Brooks revealed that the weapons were being brought in by US Virgin Islanders.

“It's our own bringing those guns in. It's our own,” he said at the event, which WTJX organized in conjunction with the Senate Committee on on Homeland Security, Justice and Public Safety.

“They're not coming in any containers. Those containers are being searched by CBP (Customs and Border Protection), there are random searches being conducted,” he said.

The commissioner revealed that residents are carrying the weapons with them on flights through the airports as well as through the US Postal Service. “And we even had a gentleman right here in St Croix building them with 3D printers,” he disclosed. “This is a reality. That's where the guns are coming in.”

As for the airports, the police commissioner disclosed that only certain airlines notify authorities when passengers with guns are coming on. “We've been fortunate to be able to stop some of them,” Mr Brooks said. However, “if we got 100 plus last year, how much you think got by?”

Gun buyback initiative

Efforts to decrease the number of firearms in circulation include a gun buyback initiative, a project supported by Senators Franklin D. Johnson and Dwayne M. DeGraff. The second round of buybacks, which is currently ongoing, has already yielded almost double the number of firearms recovered than the first iteration. With an upcoming buyback operation scheduled for St John this Saturday, Mr Brooks implored residents to take advantage of the opportunity to receive cash for turning in their illegal or unwanted firearms, no questions asked.

The weapons collected from across the territory – over 60 thus far this year – will be destroyed in a publicly staged event. “We're going to take all those guns out…and we're going to cut them up in front of everyone for you to see that we mean business," Commissioner Brooks said.

The buybacks will continue while funding remains available, and while unwanted guns remain in the hands of the citizenry. “If we could get all of them, we'd be too happy for that,” he said, noting that the program was complementary to other efforts by the VIPD to get guns off the streets of the US Virgin Islands.

Mr Brooks concluded by emphasising that community involvement and cooperation was the only way to stop the scourge of illegal firearms in the territory, which he called “a pandemic…worse than Covid.”

Wednesday's town hall in Christiansted at the Florence Williams Public Library was the last of two on St Croix.

6 Responses to “Guns entering USVI via airports & mail- Police Commissioner reveals”

  • WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE (27/03/2025, 17:36) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    THAT ITS US HERE THZG BIS BRINGING IN THE GUNS , DRUGS AND DOING THE GANSTER STYLE KILLINGS HERE , AND STOP HIDING THE FACTS BECAUSE ITS OUR FAMILIES , AND EXPECT IT TO GO AWAY , EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SEEING AN INCREASE IN VOILENT CRIMES ,AND THERE ARD THOSE WHO IS POINTING THEIR DIRTY FINGERS AT OUTSIDERS AS A DISTRACTION AND HYPOCRISY WHIILE USING RACIST NARRATIVES , LIKE , ( THEY TRYING TO MAKE US LOOK BAD , WHEN WE FULL WELL KNOW ITS US DOING IT TO OURSELVES .
  • Main source (27/03/2025, 17:53) Like (6) Dislike (0) Reply
    of the guns in the USVI is PUERTO RICO!!! Thousands of containers are shipped to PR every week and are NOT inspected by CBP. The handguns, assault rifles, shotguns, etc. in those containers are brought over to the USVI in small boats that never pass through a CBP inspection.
  • No problem (27/03/2025, 21:38) Like (3) Dislike (2) Reply
    USVI no need to worry. All dem guns on the rock being shipped to Tola on them water taxis that don’t get looked at.
  • bvi (27/03/2025, 23:52) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
    Can BVI customs tell us how ours getting in? Same way?
  • ... (28/03/2025, 04:52) Like (3) Dislike (1) Reply
    then they all end up in the bvi
  • hmm (28/03/2025, 12:43) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    It happens here to especially on the Ports when the hit vehicles, boats and even the sand barges


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