WILLEMSTAD – The coast guard intercepted a drugs transport last night after a chase with a go-fast. There were six bales containing 148 kilos of cocaine, heroine and (XTC) pills.
Five people were arrested and handed over to the police. The speedboat has been brought to the navy base Parera for further investigation.
The boot was detained south-east of Curaçao after the coast guard’s Rescue & Coordination Centre intercepted a suspicious contact on the radar. The patrol plane Dash-8 then received the order to identify the contact. It appeared to be a six meter long go-fast, with two 115 HP engines heading towards Curaçao. While the coast guard plane followed the suspicious boat, the RCC sent the super-Rhib from the coast-guard support point to intercept the boat. When the super-Rhib approached the suspicious boat, it tried to escape in full speed. The crew also threw two parcels overboard. The location was directly marked by the coast-guard staff. The super-Rhib then proceeded with the chase and forced the go-fast to a stand still.
Comment: I wonder if this boat is the one that transported Natalee to Punto Fijo, Venezuela?
Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 7039 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:25 am Post subject:
To all:
Greta of Fox News has reported that John Q. Kelly has requested the rearrest of Joran van der Sloot over admissions of selling Natalee Holloway to a gentleman from Venezuela at the Marriott Beach.
As I see it, the Aruban prosecutor will default to the "corroboration sanctuary" that has protected them in the past. Succinctly, just because Joran says it, does not make it so. Since it is unlikely that Paulus van der Sloot , the Kalpoe brothers or the Venezuelan buyer will corroborate Joran's story, the Aruban prosecutor has his hands tied.
Unless the Aruban prosecutor follows the money ... two disbursements of $10,000.00 ... he really has just another Joran tale to chase. And, the prosecutor will need to make a solid connection between the moneys and Natalee Holloway. After all, Joran could have acquired the money by other means.
Holloway-case messed up by nepotism
4 Dec, 2008, 10:08 (GMT -04:00)
ORANJESTAD -- Jan van der Straten has messed up the investigation in the first ten days after it got out that the American teenager Natalee Holloway had disappeared. He helped his ‘friend’ Paul van der Sloot to protect his suspected son Joran.
Minister Rudy Croes of Justice speaks frankly about the initial stage of the Natalee Holloway investigation.
Justice-minister Rudy Croes says this now that he feels attacked by the former chief of police and the first investigation leader of the case. Van der Straten has criticized certain aspects of the Police Corps (KPA) earlier this week. “He has also compared our Guarda Nos Costa with a politically driven group à la Chávez (Venezuelan president)”, says Croes. “He is an activist of the opposition party AVP, that’s why, but he forgets that it is the Natalee Holloway-case that was driven by favouritism.”
Wait till retirement
“I actually wanted to wait till my retirement next year to bring this into the open”, continues the minister. “But the time has come to tell the truth. When the case came to light, I heard Van der Straten say literally: ‘I can’t let this happen to my friend Paul’. And then during the first ten days, there were heavy telephone traffic between him and Paul van der Sloot.”
According to Croes, Van der Straten has perhaps consciously deployed the so-called flexiteam after the disappearance of Natalee. “He said in May 2005: ‘I can solve this with my flexiteam’. As everybody knows, the flexiteam was a team that was put into action when the regular police team was over-occupied; for example during carnival.
A detective could be included in the team, but it was no police-team that was capable of doing an investigation. Why didn’t he call in the taya-team (police officers with a lot of expertise and experience – red.)?”
There are more things that went wrong. “Why was a beach-bum accused at that time, who has been a choller before? He had supposedly done it, while internally it was known that he hadn’t done it. Very special is also the fact that the Dutch language was used during Joran’s interrogation, while he is fluent in Papiamento, same as our detective. Our people could have done their work much better if the conversations were done in their own language. Why was he so privileged? Simply because it were ‘Dutch-friends’; all three of them: Joran, Paul, and Jan. Don’t forget that a Dutch minister had asked me at that time not to mention that Joran is a European Dutch citizen. I won’t say who this person is, but if by any chance I have to mention his name, I definitely will. We felt abandoned by the Netherlands when Aruba was so devastated by the case. I have told this to the Dutch premier Balkenende, state secretary Bijleveld (Kingdom Relations), and minister Hirsch-Ballin (Justice). But until now, everybody has remained quit and has let the world besmear Aruba’s name. They abandoned us and let us suffer.”
Croes is of the opinion that the solving of the case is with the three Dutchmen Van der Straten and Paul and Joran van der Sloot. He says that a new investigation team must come that consists of Arubans, Antilleans, and Americans. “Why did it never occur to them to remove Jan van der Straten from his position after those ten ill-bred days? In the case of Marlies van der Kouwe in Bonaire, police officers were taken off the case because they have failed. I challenge Van der Straten and Paul van der Sloot to come up with clarifications, so that Aruba’s name can be cleared from this mess (porkeria).
Comment:
In the early stages of the investigation, there existed considerable suspicion as to the involvement of Jan van der Straten in a cover-up of the case. However, up until this article, the cover-up remained speculation: Yes, Jan and Paulus knew each other. To me, Aruban law enforcement would have uncovered any significant bias from van der Straten.
I still believe the Venezuelan connection offers the best opportunity for resolution.
WILLEMSTAD/DEN HAAG — State Secretary Ank Bijleveld-Schouten (Homeland Affairs and Kingdom Relations, CDA) assumes that the Aruban minister of Justice, Rudy Croes will start an immediate investigation into the, as he stated himself, the accusations of obstructing the investigation into the disappearance of Natalee Holloway by police chief Jan van der Straten.
Bijleveld writes to the Lower House today: “Even though it is strange that the accusations are done just now, considering the seriousness of the accusation, I assume that the Justice-minister will start an investigation immediately. As minister of Justice, Mr. Croes is responsible for that.”
Besides, Bijleveld doesn’t recognize herself in the criticism that Croes expressed towards the Netherlands. “The Netherlands has given all sorts of assistance to the Aruban Public Prosecutor’s investigation; also diplomatically.”
Comment: The police investigative phase seems to be commencing in the ongoing saga into the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
New investigation into the initial phase of the Holloway-case
12 Dec, 2008, 08:54 (GMT -04:00)
ORANJESTAD — Justice-minister Rudy Croes wants a thorough investigation into the first days after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in 2005. There will be an independent investigation into this next year, confirms Croes this morning. “The preparations are already in place. A few things have already taken place.
Croes refers to the many reactions he received, after he accused the former investigation-leader and chief of police Jan van der Straten last week of favouritism in the early stages of the investigation into the disappeared American teenager. In a conversation with the American FoxNews, the Dutch House-member Hero Brinkman of the extreme right party PVV, called Aruba ‘corrupt as hell’. Also many other media in the US brought Croes’ the statements up for discussion, because ‘he just now brought it up’.
PVV pressed in vain to have the Dutch detectives for the Kingdom investigate the accusations. PVV didn’t get any support for this in the Lower House. The Dutch state secretary of Kingdom Relations, Ank Bijleveld did say yesterday the Minister Croes must start an investigation immediately to verify whether van der Straten obstructed the investigation into the disappearance in Aruba.
Bijleveld indicated that she cannot force Croes to start an investigation, but it is strange to her that after so many years, the minister has just now come with the accusations. Bijleveld assumes that the accusations do not tally. If necessary, the Netherland is willing to help, says Bijleveld.
Minister Croes doesn’t want the Netherlands to interfere and has not started the investigation because of the Netherlands. “I don’t need instructions from her.” Croes has also criticized the Dutch government’s part in the case. He says that Aruba had to keep silent about the fact that Joran was a Dutchman. “He had to appear as an Aruban as much as possible. A Dutch minister had personally requested that and I won’t say who this minister is.” Bijleveld said not recognizing herself in this criticism. She says that the Netherlands has given her support in all sorts of ways to the investigation that was carried out under leadership of Justice in Aruba.
Comment: It seems clear that Joran van der Sloot's latest expose to Fox News has stuck very sensitive chords with Dutch law enforcement. How involved is the Aruban law enforcement with the South American drug cartels? Can one just buy oneself out of Aruban trouble ... even a murder wrap?
Now, thanks to Joran, the Kingdom of the Netherlands must contend with a sex slave trade claim.
And, besides the already unfavorable opinion of the Caribbean casino establishments, Joran's latest disclosures tie them with drugs and sex slaves. Michael Posner's association with the Good Ship Lollipop will soon become the poster child of Caribbean Casino management!
How will Aruba survive allowing an Alabama high school girl to be abducted into a South American sex slave ring?
AMSTERDAM/ORANJESTAD – The authorities have received new tips on possible involvement of suspect Joran van der Sloot in the case Natalee Holloway. The Public Prosecutor (OM) has therefore decided to postpone the decision whether to persecute Van der Sloot or not, till February of next year.
With the new media exposure, the OM continues to receive new tips on the disappearance case. The OM needs more time to investigate all those tips. In the interest of the investigation, the OM doesn’t want to say what the character of the tips is. New witnesses turned up recently that gave the police statements about Van der Sloot’s involvement. One of them is ‘a girl friend’ of Van der Sloot, who declared that he dropped hints about his involvement in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
Comment: The fact that the OM has made this statement indicates that he is leaning toward prosecution. To even issue such a statement hints that some corroborative evidence has been unearthed. I would wager that the new evidence comes via Venezuela.
WILLEMSTAD/THE HAGUE – “The Caribbean is definitely a worrisome area”, said Justice-minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin (CDA) about the human trafficking during a Justice-deliberation of the Lower House-committee. He reacted on questions of PvdA-Member of parliament Khadija Arib about the cooperation with the Neth.Antilles and Aruba. That’s the reason for the cooperation in the aliens’ supervision that we are currently giving shape.”
One of the issues that Arib raised was ‘the human trafficking via islands like Bonaire and the Windward Islands’. “I do understand that per January 1, these islands are comparable with a Dutch municipality. According to a report from Brazil, women from that country are rather often dealt in via Surinam for example to these islands. How is human trafficking going to be suppressed in these new municipalities?”
“We are more in general busy with the reinforcing of the immigration chain in Aruba and in the Neth.Antilles, which also affects countries of origin in the Caribbean and South-America”, was Hirsch Ballin’s answer.
The cooperation that the Netherlands has offered is accepted. “This also counts for the Windward Islands and Bonaire that later are going to be part of the Dutch government, if the plans that are currently in preparation for this, are accepted. The first move in the cooperation was a mini-conference that I participated in; at that time well-coordinated with the deliberation in Aruba on other maintenance of law and order subjects. The discussion was mainly aimed at making assistance and expertise available.”
Comment: Dutch Minister Ballin should read the Hyscience files on human trafficking in the Caribbean and South American corridor. We have amassed a sizeable repository on the topic.
I would wager that the latest revelations about Natalee Holloway's demise may have prompted this eruption in concern.
President Bush Signs Victims Protection Act to Combat Human Trafficking
By Jim Kouri, 12/26/2008 9:04:02 AM
On December 23, President Bush signed into law a bill that enhances measures to combat human trafficking.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Assistant Secretary John Torres were among 16 federal agency and private organizational leaders in the Oval Office who witnessed the signing of H.R. 7311, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008.
Elyse Smith, daughter of Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), also attended the signing event. The bill, which was passed by voice vote in the House and unanimous consent in the Senate on December 10, authorizes appropriations for FY 2008 through 2011 for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
The legislation enacted today is in keeping with the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (which amended the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000) to direct the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense to incorporate anti-trafficking and protection measures for vulnerable populations, particularly women and children, into their post-conflict and humanitarian emergency assistance and program activities.
Prior to the signing, White House Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto, said that the bill "has been a priority issue for the administration in preventing the trafficking of persons around the world. So this is a piece of legislation we're very proud to sign."
The trafficking bill signed today was named after English abolitionist William Wilberforce, who led the Parliamentary movement against the British slave trade in the early 19th century.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the largest investigative agency in the Department of Homeland Security, has responsibility for enforcing laws related to human smuggling and trafficking. As a result, ICE plays a leading role in The Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center (HSTC), the federal government's primary tool in the fight against human smuggling and trafficking.
The HSTC was formally established under Section 7202 of the Intelligence Reform Act and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The secretary of state, the secretary of homeland security, the attorney general and members of the national intelligence community jointly oversee the HSTC through a high-level interagency steering group.
Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 7039 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:51 am Post subject:
To all:
Last evening, E News aired DeVries' video-filming of Joran van der Sloot with Patrick van der Eem. Despite the all the ado, it appears that the only suspicion to emerged was the use of a boat to transport Natalee away from the Marriott Beach. The boat must have been one that was moored to a buoy in the Marriott Beach area.
All else from the DeVries' caper proves meritless without corroboration, and much that could evolve into evidence will be suppressed over marijuana inducement.
Natalee Holloway Investigation Could End Soon; Prosecutors Appeal for Information
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Aruban prosecutors said Tuesday their investigation into the 2005 disappearance of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway is nearing the end and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos said his office still needs "at least another few months" to investigate statements made by the only remaining suspect, Joran van der Sloot, during a hidden-camera interview which was broadcast on Dutch television last year.
But he then said prosecutors "are approaching the end of this lengthy investigation."
"If you have relevant information — no matter how small or uninteresting it may seem — please notify my office or the police," Mos said in a statement Tuesday.
Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Alabama, was last seen in May 2005 leaving a bar in the Aruban capital Oranjestad with Van der Sloot on the final night of a high school graduation trip to the island. She was 18 at the time.
No trace of Holloway has ever been found despite extensive searches involving hundreds of volunteers, Aruban soldiers, FBI agents and even Dutch F-16 jets with special equipment.
Aruban investigators reopened the case last year based on the hidden-camera recordings made by Dutch television crime reporter Peter R. de Vries.
But judges rejected an attempt to re-arrest Van der Sloot for statements he made on the Dutch TV show. The hidden-camera recordings showed Van der Sloot saying he was with Holloway when she died on the Dutch Caribbean island and that he had a friend dump her body at sea.
Mos, without disclosing specifics, said the TV program caused a "new stream of information" regardless of the appeals court decision blocking authorities from arresting Van der Sloot for a third time based on the statements.
"My office does not want to disclose these results to the suspect and thus make him wiser even before he has been confronted with these results," Mos said, referring to Van der Sloot, who was last known to be living in Thailand.
In November, Ann Angela, a spokeswoman for the Aruba Prosecutors' Office, said authorities hoped to decide by the end of 2008 whether to prosecute Van der Sloot or close the case for good.
Attorneys for Van der Sloot did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment and there was no answer at his parents' home in Aruba.
Natalee Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
Comment: I believe that Aruba will prosecute Joran van der Sloot. It does not appear that they need very much in order to commence. Some Venezuelan assistance might be all it would require.
ORANJESTAD -- Procurator-general Rob Pietersz has started an ‘investigation of the facts’ into the statements of justice-minister Rudy Croes about the early stage of the investigation on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
Minister Croes said in an interview in December of last year that the Dutch investigation-leader Jan van der Straten has seriously obstructed the investigation right after the disappearance of the American teenager in May of 2005. The minister had heard Van der Straten say in a conversation at that time: “I can’t do this to my friend Paul.” The fact that there was at that time a lot of telephone traffic between Paul van der Sloot – the father of the suspect Joran – and the investigation-leader Van der Straten, is very suspicious to Croes. Furthermore, right after Natalee’s disappearance, Van der Straten had deployed a second-class team of police. “That was the flexi-team; a team that is deployed during carnival”, said Croes, who indicated that he wants a new investigation into the role of Van der Straten and Van der Sloot. After the accusations, the Dutch state secretary Ank Bijleveld-Schouten (Kingdom Relations) demanded that Croes must start an immediate investigation to see whether his declarations are true.
Spokesperson Angela already indicated that no further details are done during the investigation. “The results of the investigation will be outlined not before the investigation is rounded off. It’s difficult to say when that will be.”
Comment: The foregoing seems to imply that Jan van der Straten will be prosecuted along with the Van Der Sloots!
WILLEMSTAD – Coastguard, customs, and the police intercepted drug-smuggling activities on rough seas at the northern side of Curacao, off St. Jorisbaai and arrested the three smugglers.
“This interception was made possible by the good cooperation between the authorities on land and at sea”, informed coastguard spokesperson Roderick Gouverneur. While patrolling in the middle of the night, the Dash-8 patrol aircraft of the coastguard noticed a suspected speedboat that sailed at high speed towards the shore. Customs and police were immediately informed and they went directly to the indicated spot.
Also a superrhib and an inshore motorboat of the coastguard rushed out from the base in Parera to the location where they assumed that the drugs would be taken to shore. Upon arrival they found five bags containing a total of 160 kilo cocaine, which got confiscated. The go fast that was used to transport the drugs, was still at St. Joris this morning. “We’ll go back for that”, continues the spokes person. “The sea was too rough that night to tow the boat back to Parera.”
The case is under investigation. It is not sure yet whether the go fast and the persons on board are from Colombia or Venezuela.
Comment: With all this waterborne drug activity, it seems unthinkable that some law enforcement official would not have suspected that Natalee was absconded by one of these vehicles.
WILLEMSTAD – The bags with drugs that were confiscated on Friday morning appeared to contain 408 kilo cocaine. The street value in the Netherlands would have been about 20.4 million euro. One gram cocaine costs in the Netherlands around the 50 euro and in Curacao 10 to 20 guilders. One kilo cocaine costs between 10.000 and 15.000 guilders nowadays. A few years ago, these cost around the 6000 guilders; that’s when the Royal Navy didn’t have the radar yet. During searched in three homes in Bonam and Kirindongo, the police found two pistol s of the brand Pietro Barreta and Lugar, one shotgun, 37 live ammunition, eight mobile telephones, and the bags with drugs. Two Dominican men were arrested.
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