Aruba faces significant problems with drug trafficking beyond just the Natalee Holloway case. It serves as a transshipment point for cocaine from South America, with drugs moving through the island via fishing vessels, yachts, planes, and shipping containers. Aruba's large free trade zones provide opportunities for bulk shipments to pass through without scrutiny from local officials. Money laundering organizations are also well-established on the island due to its banking secrecy laws and stable currency. While Aruba cooperates with the US on counterdrug operations, its law enforcement infrastructure has limitations in fully addressing the drug problems facing the nation.

1. Aruba has more problems thenNataleeHollloway
By Jim Kouri
Aug 10, 2005
When Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba, America and the world began
to take a close look at the island. The way they have handled the Natalee Holloway case has put
the tiny islands� police department and courts under a high powered microscope. But if you
think the disappearance of Natalee Holloway is Aruba�s only problem when it comes to the
issues of crime, think again.
Located only 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela, the island paradise of Aruba serves as a
transshipment point for illicit drugs�primarily cocaine from South America. Smugglers generally
move large loads of cocaine into Aruba on fishing vessels, private yachts, and go-fast boats. They
also move drugs out of Aruba inside maritime containerized cargo and airfreight. Drug trafficking
organizations continue to exploit Aruba�s air and sea links to the continental United States,
South America, Europe, Puerto Rico, and other Caribbean nations. Most of the cocaine transiting
Aruba is destined for European markets�primarily the Netherlands.
Aruba has large free-zone facilities (areas that allow goods to be held and then re-shipped
elsewhere without paying an import or duty tax), which provide opportunities for bulk shipments
of cocaine to transit the area without the scrutiny of local officials. Cocaine shipments in
containerized cargo increasingly are transiting the area, specifically through the free zone. The
free-zone facilities on Aruba are conducive to transshipments, not only of drugs, but also
chemicals used in illicit manufacture of drugs. Some firms in the free zone are suspected of
involvement in money laundering.
Couriers on commercial flights and cruise ships smuggle small (usually from 1- to 10-kilogram)
amounts of cocaine and, to a lesser extent, heroin, into and out of Aruba, either concealed in their

2. luggage or taped to their bodies. Commercial air couriers, sometimes swallow up to 1 kilogram of
cocaine or heroin per trip. Drug couriers easily blend into the hundreds of thousands of tourists
who visit Aruba each year.
The proximity of Aruba to South America, a high standard of living in Aruba, and an
underdeveloped law enforcement infrastructure make the country an attractive meeting place for
South American, European, and U.S. drug traffickers. Colombian traffickers play a major role in
the shipments of cocaine and heroin that transit the island, having forged trafficking relationships
with local Arubans. In the past, some airline employees and cruise-ship personnel have smuggled
drugs through Aruba.
Aruba plays a significant role as an offshore center for drug-related money laundering. Money
laundering organizations are well established on Aruba and enjoy protection from considerable
bank secrecy laws and a stable currency. The organizations use Aruba�s offshore banking and
incorporation systems, free-zone areas, and resort/casino complexes to transfer and to launder
drug proceeds. Although money laundering was made illegal in 1999, the legislation requires a
provable underlying crime with a penalty of at least 4 years. The Government of Aruba also has an
asset-seizure law that allows for seizure at the time of arrest to prevent criminals from moving
assets prior to conviction.
The Government of Aruba has recently issued several decrees on money laundering that include
increased oversight of casinos and insurance companies. The Government of Aruba also is in the
process of instituting reporting requirements for cross-border currency movements in excess of
20,000 Aruban florins (approximately US$11,200). Aruba has a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU),
known as the MeldpuntOngebruikelijkeTransacties (MOT), and is a member of the Egmont
Group, an international group of FIUs.
Aruba is not a source country for any of the chemicals used in illicit drug production and has no
specific legislation controlling essential chemicals. Difficulties abound when attempting to gauge
the levels of chemical transshipment through Aruba, as most chemicals legally pass through
Aruba�s Free Trade Zone�an area in which local law enforcement has limited oversight due to
local regulations and manpower shortages. The reporting of chemicals transiting the island is
strictly voluntary.

3. The Aruba Organized Crime Unit, a small investigative team of the Aruba Police, or Politie, has
responsibility for investigating large-scale drug trafficking crimes. The Coast Guard of the
Netherlands Antilles and Aruba (CGNAA) is responsible for maritime drug interdictions around
Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. The Governments of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba
have agreed to work more closely with the other coast guards operating in the region in order to
present a united front against drug trafficking. The CGNAA has its own Criminal Intelligence
Division (CID) which is separate from the Politie. However, due to Dutch law, unless the CGNAA
can demonstrate that a given vessel is either coming from or going to territorial waters of the
Netherlands Antilles or Aruba, any drug law enforcement, other than an administrative boarding,
is considered illegal. Dutch investigators also support law enforcement investigations in the
Netherlands Antilles.
Cocaine, heroin, and marijuana are readily available in Aruba. Wholesale amounts of cocaine sell
for from US$3,800 to US$4,500 per kilogram among drug traffickers; heroin sells for about
US$23,000 per kilogram; and marijuana sells for about US$2,000 per kilogram. These low prices
suggest a heavy flow of drugs into Aruba. According to Aruban statistics, an estimated 14 percent
of Arubans regularly use illicit drugs.
Aruba serves as one of two forward operating locations (FOLs) in the Caribbean for U.S.
counterdrug aircraft. The FOL, located at Queen Beatrix Airport near Oranjestad, provides a
landing and servicing area for counterdrug detection and monitoring missions in the region. The
United States and Aruba do not have a formal maritime law enforcement agreement.
Sources: Central Intelligence Agency, Drug Enforcement Administration, National Security
Institute
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police.