CHARLESTOWN, Nevis – IT has been a month since a portable Automated Teller Machine (ATM) was stolen in Nevis and, to date, sleuths on that island are yet to locate the machine or those involved in its theft.
According to information reaching this publication, sometime before 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 16), Manager of the Vance Amory International Airport in New Castle had realised that the ATM of the Nevis Branch of the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Limited, which was positioned outside the Arrival Hall within a glass booth, was no longer there and he had assumed that the financial institution had removed it for maintenance purposes.
He however contacted the bank later that day and was told that the entity did not remove it and the police were subsequently notified.
On the following day, a police communiqué stated that initial investigations revealed that the portable machine was stolen and inquiries into the theft were ongoing.
It also stated that money was in the machine but the amount was not disclosed.
This publication was informed that five men were involved in the heist. They had donned masks and long-sleeved hoodies, and their images were reportedly caught on camera but no one has since been apprehended.
To date, the ATM has not been found and this writer, like many other people in the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, is of the view that there are more questions than answers.
It is common knowledge that security is ever-present at all airports, more so those of an international nature, and the one on Nevis is no different. Therefore, among the questions to which answers are needed are as follow:
• Was there a security detail at the Vance Amory International Airport when the ATM was stolen? If not, why not?
• If there were a security detail, what was its strength?
• If there were one, where were the personnel at the time?
• Were they asleep or were they accomplices to the crime?
• It is expected that the security personnel who worked that shift would have been questioned by the police during their investigation. But has anyone been found to have neglected his or her duty? If yes, did management retain that individual’s service or had him or her fired?
• Why had it taken the Airport Manager’s vigilance to notice the removal of the ATM and not the security personnel?
• What is the nature of the security arrangement at the airport?
• Was the security detail a static one, or was it responsibility to patrol the premises at irregular intervals?
• What about the integrity of the security personnel involved in the system?
• What level of training do the security personnel possess?
• Were they armed?
• What confidence do they have in themselves to arrest a situation of this nature?
• The nation is being regularly reminded that the police alone cannot fight crime; it is everybody’s business. Therefore, one may ask if no law-abiding citizen on Nevis had seen when the ATM was being transported by the thieves, or are they committed to the code of silence as they do when murders are committed?
From their modus operandi, it is believed in some quarters that there are professional rings of criminals in the Federation trained by osmosis from other countries where criminality is highly modernised. Also, it is believed that local criminals are influenced by individuals who have the training from overseas universities of crime.
This is one of the ugly manifestations of St. Kitts and Nevis entering into modernity where these bold and outrageous criminal activities take place.
This writer is of the view that American television programmes, movies and that country’s culture have greatly influenced criminals in the Federation. For example, the gang culture involving Bloods and Crips, among others, and, no doubt, those involved in the stealing of the machine might have seen the 2002-produced American comedy film ‘Barbershop’ in which an ATM was stolen.
When one thinks about the heist and where the ATM might have been hidden or disposed of, one should consider the topography of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Federation does not have a lot of land mass like some other Caribbean countries, but it is surrounded by millions of miles of water. Therefore, one can commit a heist and within 20 minutes is on a boat going somewhere else. This has being going on for a while, especially in the drug trade and maybe even the purchase of guns and ammunition, and quite noticeable are that criminals have become emboldened and committing more crimes on a regular basis.
Is it that the Federation has professional criminals and amateur crime stoppers? If this is a fact, then the criminals will always be successful in their nefarious activities.
This writer strongly believes that the heist might not have been possible if there were an effective K9 Unit, owned by the entity responsible for the security of the Vance Amory International Airport, operating on a 24/7 basis.
There is manpower, what about dog power?
If there were dogs at the airport and the thieves were confronted by them, it is likely that while they were busy warding off or trying to kill or maim the ferocious animals when attacked, the handlers and other security personnel present would be in a better position to apprehend them.
Conclusively, one must understand that it is not only cricket that integrates people in the Caribbean. Crime does the same at certain levels; in that some of the criminals’ gains are moved from country to another. Sometimes there might be a falling out among them, because when they are ready to retrieve their ill-gotten gains their counterparts cannot account for them and guns come into play.
The stolen ATM remains a mystery!
