Natalee Case Discussion #739 3/3 - 3/5/08

[klaasend]

Peter R de Vries on Robert Jensen Show

-talking about the book-incident on DWDD, they show the clip
-tomorrow Beth will be on, pre-recorded, Beth told Robert that she's very grateful to Peter
-behind the scenes a lot going on, investigation re-opened
-Joran still murder-suspect
-cannot be solved within one week, takes time
-Robert could tell that when Joran was on his show, that he was holding back, 99% of the audience felt that too, not that he was lying but he was holding back information, he knew more than he was letting on
-Peter's investigation in 2006, was clear to Peter then that Joran was involved, it's strange that Joran wanted to remain silent, if you're innocent all you want to do is tell the truth, not remain silent. Joran couldn't answer the simplest questions
-Peter asked questions on P&W-show (wine incident) Joran couldn't or wouldn't answer
-Peter's wife said to Anita on P&W-show, while she was helping Peter getting wine out of his eyes: "You educated your son well" in a very sarcastic way
-Peter still talks to Beth on a regular basis

At the end he said something about anita and pauls attitude. During the show (P&W) they were defending their son, good boy, nice to people, respectful to girls, etc and that if they had any reason to believe that he was involved they would take him to the police themselves. He then added that this would be a good moment to go see the authorities and have a serious talk.

Thank you Jo-An and JE!

[Peaches]

Maybe the Dutch media has their hands full over there without bothering with what's going on in Aruba?  Maybe they just don't care?  Is Aruba the black sheep of the family?

I don't know.   

[Dayhiker]

TY! It was said that years ago he worked for Paul Van Der Sloot and that is most likely where they became good friends. We know that Rudy Croes was very upset with wire tapping in June 2005 and we suspect that was between JANVDS and PVDS,We know just from Jorans book that they were probably in contact on a regular basis but I guess that is obvious.

I wonder what Van Der Stratens next assignment will be? We heard last night from Jossy he is in Aruba but not involved in this case.

Any chance they drug Van der Straten's ass back to Holland to allow him to bail himself out of the cover-up? He's an obvious target.

[Observer]

Maybe a stupid question but can anyone tell me who Rita is

From PVDS PB june 23

After depositing the money I went home. I cannot exactly remember
what time it was when I got home. I think it was 16.15 hours. According
to me both Rita and Joran where at home.

The Maid

However we have this statement as well..Apparently they had 2 maids.


Amanda PORTOCARRERO (maid) 7/28/2005 Statement:

born at Narino in Columbia on August 5,1976, of profession living maid (servant) and living Monserat xxxxxxxxx on Aruba. The woman A.Y.GRUESO PORTOCARRERO aforementioned explained:

- that she knows nothing of an illegal Colombian maid (servant) working at the VDS house.

- that nobody told her that a maid said that she saw, in the early morning hours of Monday, May 30, 2005 clothing of Joran Van Der Sloot’s with white sand on/under them. [/list]

MARGARITHA WERLEMAN e.v. DIJKHOFF (MAID) 08/11/05 Statement:

      I have worked ( 8 ) years at family Van Der Sloot. I work as from Monday up to and including Friday for them. I do not work on Saturday and Sunday at family Van Der Sloot. I work daily four (4) hours at family Van Der Sloot. With family VDS, I mean the parents of the detained man "Joran Van Der Sloot". (meaning the suspect "Joran Van Der Sloot"; observation JACOBS).

      On your question if I can tell you specifically when I worked from Monday up to and including Friday at the family Van Der Sloot, I answer the following:
       
      I work on Monday from

08.00 till 12.00.
I work on Tuesday from 13.30 till 17.30.
I work on Wednesday from 13.30 till 17.30.
I work on Thursday from 13.30 till 15.30
and I work on Friday from 13.30 till 17.30 at family Van Der Sloot
As you can see I work daily four (4) hours at family Van Der Sloot with exception of Thursday because then I work only two (2) hours. [/list]

[Ono]

There were three ROV dive videos of the trap.  Video 1 : 29th Dec - ROV visual inspection of the trap.  (very small clip of this video on Dateline).  Remember, the Dateline footage was taken over our shoulders by filming the ROV monitor.  The footage is not the recorded ROV footage.
Video 2: Dec 30th - ROV and Diver visual-only inspection of trap.  This is the dive Dateline and Tim Miller witnessed, also the dive footage the screen captures I made came from that were posted by Robin at BNH.  I sent these 6 screen shots to the FBI and the FBI only. I was shocked to see them posted.  I thought we had a security breach on the boat from my workstation or a leak from the FBI.  Turns out the FBI gave them to Dave H. after he couldn't get them from me.  After Tim Miller told Dave that we found her in a trap with 99.9% certainty (this is pre-diver inspection), Dave very reasonably requested them from me.  I badly wanted to send them to him, but couldn't.  Apparently, shortly therafter the FBI send the screen shots to Dave anyway, and therefore Robin had them. 

What you all really didn't know (nor Tim Miller when he said his statements to the press, neither Dateline NBC when they broadcasted their lovely special):

Video 3:  Jan 7th - ROV monitoring diver tactile inspection of the trap with sampling of items inside and outside of trap.  The trap was not recovered.  Recovered samples sent for forensic analysis.  Neither Tim Miller nor the media were on board.

The trap in Video 1-3 was found from the first conducted ROV dive.  I found the target at 1:46 am on Christmas morning.  It was my #1 ranked priority target and therefore the first of the ROV dive series. 

Several hours of footage were of other dives on other targets.  None were of any relevance. Most targets were of peculiar coral pinnacles, man-made debris, and ship wrecks.

Thank you for taking the time to explain and also thanks, again for all of your work.  I've enjoyed reading your posts.

[AZSunny]

Brinkman called the Antilles and Aruba "a largely corrupt gangsters' nest' and Jan van der Straten, then police chief of Bonaire, threatened to arrest him after the parlaimentary working trip got aborted after Brinkmans comments.

The reason van der straten wanted to arresr brinkman was for the remarks about them being corrupt. On top of that Brinkman has said something along the lines of: Why havent we sold these islands on marktplaats.nl yet(Marktplaats=something like ebay). Straten said he would arrest him if he made that kind of comments while in Bonaire

TY! It was said that years ago he worked for Paul Van Der Sloot and that is most likely where they became good friends. We know that Rudy Croes was very upset with wire tapping in June 2005 and we suspect that was between JANVDS and PVDS,We know just from Jorans book that they were probably in contact on a regular basis but I guess that is obvious.

I wonder what Van Der Stratens next assignment will be? We heard last night from Jossy he is in Aruba but not involved in this case.

I believe he will be PVDS personal bodyguard.   

[JE]

They showed the whine incident again on the Jensen show and if i were Paulus and my son threw a glass of wine in somebody's without the other person having said or done anything to justify such an act i would have slapped him so hard that he'd be looking like this  three days later. So i doubt they ll take him to talk to the cops anytime soon.

[Dayhiker]

so Mos and Kruimel just have to sit their island adventure out. and never come back on the island afterwards.
that's one reason why i find those contract periods so bad. colonial attitude.
but there are not enough qualified arubans to do that job.
or arubans who studied law rather work in the netherlands maybe.

i doubt one is really committed i they have a safe exit strategy anyway.

So far everybody that they have sent to Aruba is a dud, Caesu. None of them have done jack. I have no faith in Mos, hope he proves me wrong but he definitely got pimp slapped last two times he tried something down there. three strikes you're out.

The losers list is getting longer: Karin Jannsen, Jan Van der Straten, Bob Wit, Ric Smid, Hans Less, Dop Kruimel, all have either hindered the case or gotten stomped on.

What's odd is that the case is so simple and has been from the beginning.

[Peaches]

They showed the whine incident again on the Jensen show and if i were Paulus and my son threw a glass of wine in somebody's without the other person having said or done anything to justify such an act i would have slapped him so hard that he'd be looking like this  three days later. So i doubt they ll take him to talk to the cops anytime soon.

I agree.  He should have been backhanded right then and right there.

Of course, it would probably be the first time he got what he had coming.

[Observer]

I believe he will be PVDS personal bodyguard.   

According to Dave and Art Wood thats how he acted in June 2005. We know he showed up with Dennis Jacobs on his day off flashing his gun around,they took at as a obvious sign to back off from the Van Der Sloots.

[Dayhiker]

They showed the whine incident again on the Jensen show and if i were Paulus and my son threw a glass of wine in somebody's without the other person having said or done anything to justify such an act i would have slapped him so hard that he'd be looking like this  three days later. So i doubt they ll take him to talk to the cops anytime soon.

  I think Joran is the one that does the slapping in that family.

[caesu]

current affairs program NOVA is doing a series about The Antilles (and Aruba i suppose - some name them together)

haven't watched it yet, but i will.

http://www.novatv.nl/index.cfm?ln=nl&fuseaction=videoaudio.details&reportage_id=5853&CFID=38346573&CFTOKEN=55476033

SERIE: DE ANTILLEN, DEEL 1: DE DIENSTREIS

Om de dag vertrekt er vanaf Schiphol een delegatie Haagse ambtenaren naar de Nederlandse Antillen: 180 keer per jaar. 
     
De ambtenaren blijven daar gemiddeld een week. Ze geven er steun aan de ambtenaren ter plekke of nemen deel aan allerlei werkgroepen. Soms gaan ze alleen om zich aan de Antilliaanse collega' s voor te stellen.

De Nederlandse delegaties komen van verschillende ministeries en de kans is groot dat ze elkaar onverwachts tegenkomen. De dienstreizen worden in Den Haag namelijk niet gecoördineerd. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van NOVA.

In de studio reageert staatssecretaris van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties Ank Bijleveld.

the first segment was about government/state delegations travelling every other day to the Antilles for al kinds of workgroups or support roles on the islands. or just to introduce themselves to their Antilles colleague.
they stay on islands a week on average.

these trips are not co-ordinated by The Hague. so it happend that those delegations unexpectedly bump into eachother.
Ank Bijleveld, cabinet secretary for Kingdom affairs reacts in the studio.

i don't know what the real issue is here but i suspect wasting money on easy holidays in the sun.
but i go watch it this week and report back.

maybe the other segments in this series will cover more interesting subjects.

[Dayhiker]

The reason van der straten wanted to arresr brinkman was for the remarks about them being corrupt. On top of that Brinkman has said something along the lines of: Why havent we sold these islands on marktplaats.nl yet(Marktplaats=something like ebay). Straten said he would arrest him if he made that kind of comments while in Bonaire

Interesting that Van der Straten wants to arrest somebody for free speech but protects a murderer.

[JE]

They showed the whine incident again on the Jensen show and if i were Paulus and my son threw a glass of wine in somebody's without the other person having said or done anything to justify such an act i would have slapped him so hard that he'd be looking like this  three days later. So i doubt they ll take him to talk to the cops anytime soon.

  I think Joran is the one that does the slapping in that family.

Probably LOL in his case it would be the other way round

Before slap  after slap 

[Observer]

TY! It was said that years ago he worked for Paul Van Der Sloot and that is most likely where they became good friends. We know that Rudy Croes was very upset with wire tapping in June 2005 and we suspect that was between JANVDS and PVDS,We know just from Jorans book that they were probably in contact on a regular basis but I guess that is obvious.

I wonder what Van Der Stratens next assignment will be? We heard last night from Jossy he is in Aruba but not involved in this case.

Any chance they drug Van der Straten's ass back to Holland to allow him to bail himself out of the cover-up? He's an obvious target.

According to Jan himself he has political aspirations in the Antilles. I think Dompig's Shieldgroup is no longer in business as well so they both may be out of work. Dompig is currently in the running for a high level position with the ALE.

[GBMW]

Short summary:
He was just on..nice interview. No real news / scoops; just a conversation about De Wereld Draait Door (not related to Natalee) - wine throwing incident - the Pauw & Witteman interview and that he has regular contact with Beth.

Robert Jensen made the comment that after the confession nothing seemed to have happened. Peter said that before the case was closed, Joran wanted to claim money etc and now the investigation is open again; he is a murdersuspect & that they're working very hard on the case (and the way he said it made it look like he is in contact with people who are doing the investigation...but that's not really a surprise...) but results aren't there overnight.
Peter also stated that after he went to Aruba to investigate, talk to people, see the surroundings were it all happened he was sure that Joran knew more...if you've got nothing to hide / are innocent you don't keep your mouth shut...

They also talked about Jorans' parents...they claimed in the Pauw & Witteman interview they would have brought Joran to the police if they thought that he had something to do with it or knew more...Peter joked: Well they still have to go!

Thanks GMBW and a belated welcome to the board. One thing that has been persistently missing in the Dutch media is the corruption angle in Aruba. It's so damn obvious. I wish they would jump on that more. I hope this is something Peter is working on behind the scenes.

I think he's trying very hard to do so...he did it in his first special when the angle of  'the friend of the family' opening the door at the Van der Sloots house when the housesearch was going to happen was very important in the show...and with the cellphone - prison thing in his latest special.
He has said  that he's got 'his own ideas' about Paul van der Sloot (and we all know what that means ...). But he won't say it out loud if he doesn't have stuff to back it up. In his position credibility means just about everything & because of that he can't say things without proof. But he is aware of Paul van der Sloot & his buddies helping out Joran and ???; the rest of the media seem to have focused on Joran.

Maybe it's also because the media can't really bring it up since it's mostly news / talkshows that bring the case. News: you need prove / Talkshow: not too much detail & difficulty concerning the subject...10 / 15 minutes max. for an item.
Newspapers should have picked it up though; it's weird they haven't really done that.

[oceanexploration]

OE how long does it take to locate a given target with the rover-on average, assuming the boat is relatively close to it. How fast can it descend into the depths? And what about the density of the remaining targets, are they close, scattered, clustered, radom?

The time it takes to dive and locate a target depends largely on sea conditions and water depth.  In water depth of 400 ft with moderate seas it was consistently taking 5 minutes to locate the target with the ROV based on the side scan data.  The coordinates I was giving the ROV pilot were consistently within a few feet of the actual target and often fell within the actual target.  This precision is only possible with perfect USBL (ultra-short baseline) acoustic navigation and very diligent working.  10 years ago this precision and resolution was not possible.  To answer your question it would take about a day, with daylight operations only, to dive on about 15-25 targets.  We would often "bounce dive" targets of little interest.  The dives are conducted in a combination of priority and distribution.  When targets are widely-spaced, location takes more control on operations.  When targets are close together, highest priority wins.  In any case, the top priority targets are done first regardless.   Basically, we had three levels of priority. 
P1 targets were targets interpreted to likely be a fish trap.  P2 targets were interpreted to be possible containers or a possible fish trap, but less clear.  P3 targets were targets of little interest, but deemed worthy of inspection. 

[caesu]

Maybe the Dutch media has their hands full over there without bothering with what's going on in Aruba?  Maybe they just don't care?  Is Aruba the black sheep of the family?

I don't know.   

true, together with St. Maarten another island.
maye already posted but report came out today about heroïne/cocaïne smuggling via aruba.
about the heroïne i was surprised actually. i thought that came from afghanistan and south-east-asia mainly.

report from us state departement reported to congress friday 29th feb.:
http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2008/vol1/html/100778.htm

Dutch Caribbean

I. Summary

Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles, and the Netherlands together form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The two Caribbean parts of the Kingdom have autonomy over their internal affairs, with the right to exercise independent decision making in a number of counter narcotics areas. The Government of the Netherlands (GON) is responsible for the defense and foreign affairs of all three of the Kingdom and assists the Government of Aruba (GOA) and the Government of the Netherlands Antilles (GONA) in their efforts to combat narcotics trafficking. Negotiations are underway that are expected to result in the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2008, with Curacao and Sint Maarten to attain autonomous status similar to Aruba’s, while the islands of Bonaire and Saint Eustatius would become municipalities within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Both Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles are active members of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and are subject to the 1988 UN Drug Convention as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

II. Status

Netherlands Antilles. The islands of the Netherlands Antilles (NA) (Curacao and Bonaire off Venezuela and Saba, Saint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten east of the U.S. Virgin Islands) continue to serve as northbound transshipment points for cocaine and increasing amounts of heroin coming from South America; chiefly Colombia, Venezuela, and to a much lesser extent, Suriname. Go-fast boats are typically used to transport drugs to U.S. territory in the Caribbean, although the use of fishing boats, freighters, and cruise ships is becoming more common. Direct transport to Europe, and at times to the U.S., is sometimes carried-out by “mules” (drug couriers) using commercial flights. The DEA and local law enforcement saw continued go-fast boat traffic this year with some load sizes reduced because of a potential exposure to law enforcement. This shift was attributed to successful investigations along with investments by the Antilles in border security like the new ground-based radar system capable of identifying inbound vessels. These shipments were generally en route to Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, but Sint Maarten continued to hold some measurable popularity among couriers as a gateway to Europe. In addition to go-fast boat activity and smuggling via commercial airlines, large quantities of narcotics continued to be moved through in cargo containers.

Sint Maarten’s geographic location and its multi-national population make it an ideal transshipment point between South America and the United States, for drugs and human smuggling. Dutch Sint Maarten is considered a “Free Zone”, which means there are limited controls placed on import and export of goods. This situation also applies to financial crimes. The absence of rigorous checks into monetary flows means that money laundering and proceeds from illegal activities are relatively easy to conceal. Sint Maarten announced draft legislation to be presented to Parliament in 2008 that would extend the requirement to report suspicious financial transactions to include not only banks and casinos but car dealers, jewelers, insurance companies, lawyers and accountants as well. In preparation for its expected autonomous status, Sint Maarten established a Crime Action Task Force to enhance law enforcement efforts against drug trafficking, human smuggling and money laundering.

In Curacao, the crackdown at Curacao’s Hato International Airport on “mules”—who either ingest or conceal on their bodies illegal drugs — continued during 2007. Detentions of mules declined from a high of 80 to 100 per day, to approximately 10 per month in 2007, according to local court statistics. The decline can be directly attributed to aggressive law enforcement tactics employed by Antillean authorities, in conjunction with their Dutch partners, coupled with innovative legislative tactics like the confiscation of the passports of Antillean couriers.

During 2007, the newly appointed Police Chief in conjunction with the Minister of Justice made a concentrated effort to improve Criminal Intelligence by creating a new Operational Intelligence Unit within the Curacao Police Corps. This specialized Intel Unit improved the investigative effectiveness of the police and successful joint Antillean/Dutch investigations conducted by the Hit and Run Money Laundering Team (HARM) have become commonplace during 2007.

The specialized Dutch police units (RSTs) that support law enforcement in the NA continued to be effective in 2007. RST Curacao had its biggest success in a joint international money laundering operation named Operation Kings Cross, which focused on illegal activities within the Curacao Free Zone. This operation resulted in the seizure of $120,000 in Euros and $130,000 in U.S. Currency and the arrest of the principal target in the investigation. In another joint RST investigation named Operation Pick Pocket results included the seizure of 542 kilograms of cocaine, 10 kilograms of heroin, and the arrest of 61 individuals.

The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba Coast Guard (CGNAA) was responsible for several seizures of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana during 2007. In October, the CGNAA, in coordination with the RST Curacao seized approximately 35 kilograms and a go-fast vessel. The CGNAA’s three cutters, outfitted with rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) and new ‘super’ RHIBs designed especially for counter narcotics work in the Caribbean, demonstrated their utility against go-fast boats and other targets.

The CGNAA has developed an effective counternarcotics intelligence service and is considered by the U.S. Coast Guard and DEA to be an invaluable international law enforcement partner. Under the continued leadership of the Attorney General, the GONA continued to strengthen its cooperation with U.S. law enforcement authorities throughout 2007. This cooperation extended to Sint Maarten, where the United States and the GONA continued joint efforts against international organized crime and drug trafficking.

The Dutch Navy also operates in the Netherlands Antilles under the auspices of Component Task Group 4.4 (CTG 4.4), which operates in international waters under the oversight of the Joint Inter Agency Task Force South (JIATF-S). Over the past two years, CTG 4.4 has become a close and essential ally of the DEA and other U.S. agencies. Their continual efforts to thwart drugs trafficking from the region have been noted at the highest levels of the DEA and U.S. government. Several notable seizures occurred during 2007. The most impressive effort was the tracking of a maritime vessel from Colombia, which culminated with the seizure of approximately 153 kilograms of heroin.

The GONA demonstrated its commitment to the counternarcotics effort by continued support for a U.S. Forward Operating Location (FOL) at the Curacao Hato International Airport. Under a ten-year use agreement, signed in March 2000 and ratified in October 2001 by the Dutch Parliament, U.S. military aircraft conduct counternarcotics detection and monitoring flights over both the source and transit zones from commercial ramp space provided free of charge.

Aruba. Aruba is a transshipment point for increasing quantities of heroin, and to a lesser extent cocaine that move north via cruise ships and the multiple daily flights to the U.S. and Europe. The island attracts drug traffickers because of its good infrastructure, excellent flight connections, and relatively light sentences for drug-related crimes served in prisons with relatively good living conditions.

While Aruba enjoys a low crime rate, crime reporting during 2007 indicates that prominent drug traffickers are established on the island. Drug abuse in Aruba, including among tourists, remains a cause for concern. Cruise lines that visit Aruba have strict boarding/search policies for employees in order to thwart efforts of the traffickers to establish regular courier routes back to the United States. The expanding use of MDMA in clubs by young people attracts increasing attention. Private foundations on the island work on drug education and prevention and the Aruba government’s top counter narcotics official actively reaches out to U.S. sources for materials to use in prevention programs. The police also work in demand reduction programs among local schools and visit them regularly. The GOA has established an interagency commission to develop plans and programs to discourage youth from trafficking between the Netherlands and the U.S. The GOA has been very clear that it intends to pursue a dynamic counternarcotics strategy in close cooperation with its regional and international partners.

In 2007, Aruba law enforcement officials continued to investigate and prosecute mid-level drug traffickers who supply drugs to “mules.” During 2007, there were several instances where Aruban authorities cooperated with U.S. authorities to carry out U.S. prosecutions of American citizens arrested in Aruba who were attempting to carry multi-kilogram quantities of drugs to the United States. Aruba also devotes substantial time and effort to the identification of the person’s responsible for the importation of drugs to Aruba.

The GOA hosts the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pre-inspection and pre-clearance personnel at Reina Beatrix airport. These officers occupy facilities financed and built by the GOA. DHS seizures of cocaine and heroin were frequent in 2007. Aruba officials regularly explore ways to capitalize on the presence of the FOL and pre-clearance personnel, seeking to use resident U.S. law enforcement expertise to improve local law enforcement capabilities. In September, CBP’s Office of International Affairs and Trade Relations provided training on the implementation of border enforcement best practices and the proper use of inspection tool kits in the examination of aircraft, containers, vehicles and cargo.

III. Actions Against Drugs in 2007

Accomplishments. Available drug seizure statistics for calendar year 2007, as of October 31, 2007, were: Aruba seized 390 kilograms of cocaine and 13 kilograms of heroin. The Netherlands Antilles seized 638 kilograms of cocaine and 10 kilograms of heroin.

Corruption. As a matter of policy, the NA does not encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. During 2007, the NA continued an aggressive and successful program to identify certain links from prominent traffickers in the region to law enforcement officials, which prompted additional investigation in the region. The NA has been quick to address these issues through criminal investigations, internal investigations, new hiring practices, and continued monitoring of law enforcement officials that hold sensitive positions. Aruba’s judiciary enjoys a well-deserved reputation for integrity. It has close ties with the Dutch legal system, including extensive seconding of Dutch prosecutors and judges to fill positions for which there are no qualified candidates among the small Antillean and Aruban populations.

Agreements and Treaties. The Netherlands extended the 1988 UN Drug Convention to the NA and Aruba in March 1999, with the reservation that its obligations under certain provisions would only be applicable in so far as they were in accordance with NA and Aruba criminal legislation and policy on criminal matters. The NA and Aruba subsequently enacted revised, uniform legislation to resolve a lack of uniformity between the asset forfeiture laws of the NA and Aruba. The obligations of the Netherlands as a party to the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its three protocols apply to the NA and Aruba. The obligations of the Netherlands under the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances have applied to the NA since March 10, 1999. The Netherlands’s Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with the United States applies to the NA and Aruba. Both Aruba and the NA routinely honor requests made under the MLAT and cooperate extensively with the United States on law enforcement matters at less formal levels.

Cultivation/Production. Cultivation and production of illicit drugs are not issues.

Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). Both the NA and Aruba have ongoing demand reduction programs, but need additional resources. In 2007, the Curacao Police Corps, in conjunction with Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (D.A.R.E.), opened a new D.A.R.E. facility in Willemstad, Curacao to aid in youth Demand Reduction activities.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

The United States encourages Aruba and NA law enforcement officials to participate in INL-funded regional training courses provided by U.S. agencies at the GOA and GONA’s expense. Chiefly through the DEA and DHS/Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States is able to provide assistance to enhance technical capabilities as well as some targeted training. The U.S. continues to search for ways in which locally assigned U.S. law enforcement personnel can share their expertise with host country counterparts.

Appreciation of the importance of intelligence to effective law enforcement has grown in the Dutch Caribbean. The USG is expanding intelligence sharing with GOA and GONA officials as they realize the mutual benefits that result from such sharing. As U.S.-provided intelligence must meet the strict requirements of local law, sharing of intelligence and law enforcement information requires ongoing, extensive liaison work to bridge the difference between U.S. and Dutch-based law.

Road Ahead. Drug trafficking and related money laundering and criminal violence continue to threaten the Dutch Caribbean. The expansion of law enforcement cooperation between the U.S., Dutch, and Aruba and Netherlands Antilles will serve to protect the Dutch Caribbean from these threats and contribute to broader counternarcotics efforts in the Caribbean as well.

reported in dutch media:
http://www.nu.nl/news/1461794/20/%27Aruba_doorvoerhaven_van_hero%EFne%27.html

[SunnyinTX]

Peter R de Vries on Robert Jensen Show

-talking about the book-incident on DWDD, they show the clip
-tomorrow Beth will be on, pre-recorded, Beth told Robert that she's very grateful to Peter
-behind the scenes a lot going on, investigation re-opened
-Joran still murder-suspect
-cannot be solved within one week, takes time
-Robert could tell that when Joran was on his show, that he was holding back, 99% of the audience felt that too, not that he was lying but he was holding back information, he knew more than he was letting on
-Peter's investigation in 2006, was clear to Peter then that Joran was involved, it's strange that Joran wanted to remain silent, if you're innocent all you want to do is tell the truth, not remain silent. Joran couldn't answer the simplest questions
-Peter asked questions on P&W-show (wine incident) Joran couldn't or wouldn't answer
-Peter's wife said to Anita on P&W-show, while she was helping Peter getting wine out of his eyes: "You educated your son well" in a very sarcastic way
-Peter still talks to Beth on a regular basis

Jo-An thans so very much!!

[texasmom]

Wanted to shout out to our Dutch Monkeys and tell you how much I enjoy reading your posts and appreciate your updates from the media in Holland. Wish we'd had you here from the start and didn't have to get our information from the Dutch trolls who were in the Van der Sloot camp. Welcome!
 
 

I'll add an AMEN to that!

WELCOME DUTCH MONKEYS!!!! WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE HERE WITH US, STANDING WITH THE GIRL!!!