serious question...

Crooked cops & I've heard some are imported from the middle east in shipments of merchandise. Also, not all boats are searched. Every single trailer shipped in is searched. That would be impossible plus some guns can be broken down & brought in that way.

A small boat can make it to Puerto Rico in a few hours and smuggle them to the VI

Greetings Trade and Bombi. Thanks for your responses.

A thorough search of all incoming cargo would certainly apply part of the choke hold. That responsibilty falls on Customs, does it not? A paint store here received a trailer full of supplies but could not unload the product until Customs arrived to search the trailer. The trailer had been sealed by Customs.

As for the boats, wouldn't a single Coast Guard cutter be able to spot and track every single boat that approached our coastlines?

Not all trailers are searched. They may open a door & peek in & clear it. I've gotten trhough TSA at the airport with stuff I had forgotten to remove from my purse & it got through.

Human cargo get here illegally all the time.

Burglars steal legal guns from homes!

Yeah...airport security can be quite lax. On the other hand, when I tried to carry on a piece of medical equipment that the inspectors in the Dominican Republic didn't understand, I had armed security coming at me from every direction with guns drawn. I about fouled my shorts. Afterward I got home, I found it to be quite comical.

If many contains go without inspection, that would seem to indicate a need for more Customs inspectors.

I do not think 'a single Coast Guard cutter' could be very effective at all.

Yeah,,,agreed, Lizard. The guns and drugs that are already on the island are a big problem.

A single cutter, in and of itself, certainly couldn't intercept and inspect all the boats but it does have the technology to spot and track them all, doesn't it?

There may be a kernel of truth in these "news articles" on demmansay's website.....here is the one about an alleged failed gun smuggling bust: http://www.demmansay.com/files/SingleBarrel_ATF.doc

You can bring guns in legally in your suitcase in a proper container as long as you declare them at the airport. You can also ship a gun in your container of your personal items. You then have an amount of time to register them or turn them in until they are legal in the VI. I think that is the point where the system breaks down. I don't think anyone checks to see if you have legally registered the gun that you brought in. This was explained to me by a customs agent after our container was seized. They came out and asked my husband and I a lengthy amount of questions and watched as we unloaded our container. One of the questions was did we bring any firearms. I told him I didn't think you could bring firearms into the territory so we didn't bring ours and so he explained the procedure.

Greetings dougtamjj

Legal guns brought in for personal safety may contribute to the problem but probably only in a minor way.

Native son made a suggestion on a prior post about gun amnesty, Not trying to step on his thunder but Newark NJ had a cash for guns party no questions asked. A LOT of weapons were turned in and no ACLU problems.

I agree aussie. My point was maybe people are bringing the guns in but not registering or maybe selling them but then again I don't know how many guns you are allowed to bring in suitcase. It may be only 1.

Yes. Native Son had some excellent suggestions including, I believe, a sweep of the island to find the guns. It would need to be done after the flow of guns into the islands is slowed to a trickle or else the positive effects would be short lived at best.

Agreed, dougtamjj

Aussie,
A gun sweep will never happen, constitutional issues.

Most of the public housing has something about no guns unless it is part of your work and registered or law enforcement. I'll have to look at a typical section 8 lease.

ive heard of people shipping them by way of vi cargo, not alot i believe they were for personal use

Good morning, speee1dy

Thanks for weighing in.

Does each island have but one small cargo port? Does the VIPD have a role to play in securing the cargo ports? Or is that responsibility charged to Customs?

I believe that is the Port Authority Police along with US Customs. We have 2 container ports on STX, I don't know about STT

Good morning, vacationstx

Ah...2 small cargo ports on STX....thanks. Do the Port Authority Police play a role in inspecting cargo?

Without unloading it - often 20+ pallets in a 40' container - how do they 'Inspect' a container load in the VI.

Good morning, Exit Zero

Quite honestly, I don't know. Customs searched the trailer at the paint store before the supplies could be unloaded and dougtamjj said that Customs was present when they unloaded their container.

"Without unloading it..." may be the key part of your question. I doubt that anything can be inspected without unloading the container or being present when it is unloaded.