TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin New luggage scanner SXM Airport

FYI Plan on spending a few extra minutes as you leave the baggage claim area in SXM to exit the Airport. All luggage is now being scanned and some luggage searched before leaving.

really, that makes a lot of sense.....NOT.

Is this meant to be a joke?

Scanned AFTER it is taken off the plane??? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Not a joke. Yes, scanned after it is unloaded from the plane and you pick it up at the carousel. It happened just before you go to walk down the hallway to exit Airport. My next door neighbor was pulled out of line (a long, slow line) on Monday as she was trying to exit the airport. Her luggage (and everyone else's) was put through a scanner, then hand searched. She had vitamins in her checked bag. Enough for her 3 month stay and it took her 15 mins to get them to let her keep them. She did make the mistake of not having them in their original containers (had them in baggies, marked on outside what they were.) So, I can understand them wanting to confiscate. Wish I was kidding. if anyone else has had this experience, please post because I wasn't there.

OK, that's weird. Never heard of that before. I guess they are looking for drugs or handguns or other contraband??

Have no idea, Carol. I'm not against extra searches, just not interested in standing in line again after a long day of Airports, TSA, Imigration, Customs etc.

They probably had a tip thus the scanner. Many countries XRAY luggage prior to letting you leave the secure customs/immigration area. Buenos Aires, Argentina, Santiago, Chile, scan all arriving luggage, Mexico City if you get the red light. Certainly not too common but it is being done.

What airline was your neighbor on ? Know they usually do this on Insel Air flights from Curacao. Have not heard it done on other airlines. Hopefully not a new trend.

She was on American, but she said they were scanning other Airlines too.

Same as in India

Just checked bags, or carry-ons too?

Neighbor didn't say anything about carry on luggage, but it sounded like all luggage.

They were doing that last March. But they stopped after a while and we were fortunate to get our baggage late so we just left after they stopped.

Somehow I just can't picture a Saturday arrival day with 3 or 4 big boys arriving at the same time and over a thousand passengers having their bags scanned (and maybe inspected) in THE scanner.

Guess I have to wait a few weeks to see for myself...

I hope it was this and not a routine occurrence

Anyone been recently that can give an update on this?

Coming back to the states one year from SXM thru JFK, my luggage was pulled offline and scanned also. It appears that SXM must be scanning all luggage from every were, as all countries are not inspecting/scanning like the US does, so they must becoming more diligent to stop contraband of any type from coming into the country. They might be looking for some tampering by ground personnel in the departure city also.

I had my luggage scanned arriving in the US more than once. They are looking for fruits and meats that you are not supposed to bring in the US. May be they are looking for items you are not supposed to bring to SXM.

I think the question was regarding scanning luggage in SXM not the USA and whether it was still occurring..and since we are arriving on Sunday I am also interested in the answer

Friends who arrived last weekend did NOT have their luggage scanned.

Thanks...
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A couple of years ago boarding plane to leave SXM, I and another woman were pulled aside and asked to show passport. I can't imagine where they thought I'd been between TSA and the gate. But I didn't say anything as to not delay any more.

Another 3 people had to turn over their carry-on and it was opened and insides fondled before they could board plane. No of this makes any sense.

Just arrived today on AA.....no scanning.

Was the machine there to scan if they decided to scan?

Well, good and bad about our arrival today..

...JB from BOS arrived 5 minutes early...good
...only two planes on the ground at gates..Copa and Sun Country..good
...walked around the corner to immigration and hit the masses of people. Probably not an exaggeration to say it looked like 1000...but...all booths working and 25 minutes to get through..not gross
...bags were waiting for us...good

Then it all fell apart. ALL those people at immigration AND multiple previous flights were in a HUGE line to get bags scanned. Line is incorrect since it was an chaotic, clot of humanity. After 45 minutes getting hardly anywhere I schmoozed up to a custom agent and made small talk AND he took us past hundreds of frustrated people and let us go unscanned. I did not make eye contact with those we passed.

In all it too 1 hour 45 minutes to get out of the airport and that was WITH a significant line bump.

I asked if this happens every day and he said no...only occasionally...

Note: there is only one scanner and one agent doing ALL bag scanning...It was NOT a pretty sight at all...

But it is warm and sunny...good

Wow, this is a situation that they need to get resolved. That is terrible.

Wow, that is unbelievable! I wonder what determines"occasionly"?Something is definitely wrong here and needs to be addressed asap.

KLM passengers were just arriving when we got walked through. I HOPE they d/c'd it then. There was no physical way to fit that many people into that mess.

I will take a survey of my tennis group tomorrow and see if we were the only "lucky" ones. They arrive on different days.

I should add on scanning days maybe they should curtain the PA announcement touting "The best airport in the Caribbean"...it didn't go over too well <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

All's fine now...sitting on the 5th floor deck at SBR looking out at the Bay...maybe with a cold Carib in hand. Oh, did you know COLD six pack at Market Garden costs more than warm beer?...open late on Sunday (same as other days)

They're apparently not using that scanner every day or for every flight. I wonder if the Copa flight was the trigger?

What a difference a day makes, we arrived Saturday and depite many arrivals we flew through the arrival process.

Where does COPA fly from and on which day besides Sunday?

Sorry for "Scanner" fiasco. And many store fresh market / garden market charge more for any beverage cold vs warm <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/smashpc.gif" alt="" />

To/from Panama City. They fly on Mondays, Tuesday, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays.

We were on that flight today (Panama city - sxm), took us about 15 minutes to get through passport control and 10 minutes through scanner.

Thanks Julius. Someone suggested that the scanning was because of the COPA flight. If you and boucharda both arrived today, the scanning must have started after you got through. We fly down next Monday and hoping we will not have the same problem.

I also came to that conclusion. The Panama flight arrived before us and I heard the Custom people say that all the Panama people had to be scanned and we just were in the wrong place and time....(right place....wrong time <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />)

I thought it would have made a bit more sense to place the scanner outside the baggage belt and scan the bags from the airlines they were concerned with rather than penalizing EVERYONE.

Soooo...try not to arrive after a Panama flight...HOURS after

That does sound like a reasonable approach, doesn't it?! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

The scanner has been there for years, but in all the years we have been going to St Martin, we rarely have seen it in operation.

Years ago, traveling through SJU, I used to sometimes be on a section of the ramp where I could see luggage on an airside conveyer belt, moving at a slow speed. There was a handler with a dog, with the dog walking on the luggage, against the flow. The pooch had a few seconds to sniff each and every bag.

Not sure who to reply to here, but i have an update from some friends who came in on the direct JB flight from Boston, and bags were being scanned AFTER they were retrieved from the luggage carousel.

Perhaps all this is because it is feared an airport worker put a bag on a plane with some kind of contraband (drugs?) and someone was to retrieve it at the airport.