ARUBA SHUNNED BY THE DUTCH

Aruba 'publicly dissed' by The Netherlands

ORANJESTAD/ DEN HAAG – The parliamentary delegation talked about the image of Aruba in the Netherlands during their visit to the State Council in the Netherlands. The Council says that it becomes more and more negative. Also the relationship between both countries has ‘cooled off’ lately.


The prevailing opinion is that Aruba citizens in the Netherlands cause problems and that Aruba is costing the community a lot of money. MPA indicated in a reaction that the government must actively start informing the Dutch community about the situation. “The situation in Aruba is still being confused with the Neth. Antilles. To change this, we must give the Dutch community the correct information. It is in our interest to make sure that we maintain a positive relationship with the Netherlands. Besides, our children go to the Netherlands to go to college and a bad relationship will only cause problems for them.”


http://www.amigoe.com/artman/publish/artikel_43373.php

ARUBA IS THE SAFEST ISLAND! SOUNDS LIKE THE STATS PROVE THAT WRONG

Aruba's Crime Increases by 11 percent

Looking back on 2007, chief of police Peter de Witte is of the opinion that there is a hardening of Aruba's society and especially with youth crime.




ORANJESTAD – From the tentative figures of the Police Corps of Aruba it appears that criminality has increased with 11.3 percent last year. This has to do with mainly the sharp rise of the number of robberies, especially in homes. The police are highly satisfied with the approach of the local drug dealings and the use of narcotics; more than 200 kilo cocaine was confiscated last year, double the amount of 2006.


Points of concern are the development of the youth criminality and “the growing ease with which firearms are being used”, said chief of police Peter de Witte looking back on last year. “The shooting incident in December of last year is an example of that. It started with a fight and it ended in a shout-out, whereby one police officer was hit by two bullets and the shooter that finally died.”


The chief of police is also very concerned about the armed confrontations between several youth groups that in addition are getting more and more involved with criminal activities. “A hardening has taken place.” De Witte doesn’t want to talk about gangs. “That gives them too much status. These are groups that represent certain neighbourhoods, of which some are engaged in criminality like drug dealing and burglary.”


Besides, the police corps has no perception of the age structure of those that commit crimes; at least not until a new registration system is introduced soon. The youth criminality has been raised to priority one this year. “Youth criminality, definitely after the serious incidents of last year, is heavily qualified for the subjective safety feeling. More and more people are wondering: Do I have to go to carnival due to the problems caused by the young people.”


“The local drug dealing and use of drugs remains a big problem. It caused a lot of inconvenience in the districts and peripheral criminality, like burglary. Especially the youth is very vulnerable when they come into contact with drugs. We know that drugs is being used and sold on several schools and I an very worried about that”, said De Witte.


http://www.amigoe.com/english/-June 12, 2008

ARUBA'S FRIENDLY AIRSPACE CATERS TO DRUG TRAFFICKERS

Doesn't Aruba have "WORKING" radars for air and water security? According to former Aruban Police Chief Gerald Dompig, they do. (See his remarks from his interview on 48 Hours.)

It is well known that the area between Venezuela and Aruba is the stairway to drug trafficking heaven. I'm sure Aruba is being paid well for their drug trafficking conspiracy to aid and/or abet.

Jacksonville surveillance planes bust huge shipments of cocaine

Friday, May 30th, 2008

Two U.S. Custom and Border Protection surveillance planes based in Jacksonville helped authorities seize two different shipments of cocaine totaling about $80 million. The first plane was alerted to a suspicious aircraft from Venezuela flying over Aruba May 11, according to a Custom and Border Protection news release.


The surveillance plane tracked the aircraft to a remote airfield in Mexico. Local authorities seized the aircraft along with 2,640 pounds of cocaine worth about $24 million. Another plane was patrolling the Caribbean Ocean near Nicaragua May 18 when it spotted a boat loaded with barrels. The occupants of the boat fled to the Nicaragua/Honduras coast before they ran aground and ditched the drugs. The plane directed the U.S. Coast Guard to the abandoned boat, which was filled with 6,215 pounds of cocaine valued at about $56 million, the news release said.


http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/2008/05/30/jacksonville-surveillance-planes-bust-huge-shipments-of-cocaine/