Aruba by Dave Holloway

Author:Dave Holloway
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

The Two Faces of Paradise

* * *

AT FIRST GLANCE, OUR MIND SET WAS WHAT WE HAD pulled up on the Aruba tourist Web site, “One Happy Island”: no crime, a very safe place. For the most part, that seemed to be true and, at first, the authorities appeared to be doing whatever they could to keep it that way. For one thing, it looked as though most anything was legal there. No wonder they are so happy and consider the island crime-free, I thought. They strive to be an independent state, and that motivates them to hide their secrets, such as rampant drug problems, alleged money laundering, and rumors of powerful Mafia control. The different factions, coupled with the Dutch influence, create a dichotomy, but an illusion of harmony is reflected to keep the tourists coming. Until we saw the conditions for ourselves, we had no way of knowing that we had sent our child into such a dangerous environment.

Aruba’s proximity to Venezuela and Colombia makes it much too easy for the drugs to flow in and out. According to a 2003 U.S. Department of Justice report, because Aruba is only about twenty miles off the Venezuelan shore, it is a major hub for the transfer of illegal drugs, the primary one being cocaine, but also heroin and marijuana, which are abundant in Aruba. The report explains that the drugs flow in and out of Aruba by air and sea, and while it is distributed virtually all over the world, the majority of it ends up in the Netherlands. Due to the lack of import or duty tax in certain “free zone” areas in Aruba, there is no fear of any scrutiny from Aruban authorities. Thus, the drugs are freely moved in and out of the country. However, the drug trade is not the only illegal business that Aruba prospers from. According to the report, drug-related money laundering organizations also thrive in the environment due to bank secrecy laws as well as the stable currency.

There is a small investigative team of police or Politie in Aruba known as the Aruba Organized Crime Unit, which is responsible for investigating large-scale drug trafficking crimes. Then, there is the Coast Guard of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, known as the CGNAA. They are responsible for overseeing the maritime drug restrictions around Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. The authorities of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba have been joining forces with other coast guard units in the area to take a stand against drug trafficking.

The CGNAA has its own Criminal Intelligence Division, separate from the Aruba Politie. However, due to Dutch law, unless they can show that a specific ship is entering or leaving the territorial waters of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba, it is illegal for them to take any action other than an administrative boarding. Thus, the waters are an easy escape for many of the drug traffickers and, I would assume, the sex trade traffickers, who frequent the area and know their way around.

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