KMar Commander Lieutenant General Hans Leijtens (left) and Dutch Naval Commander in the Caribbean, Brigadier-General Peter Jan de Vin.
WILLEMSTAD--Commander of the Royal Dutch Marechaussee KMar Lieutenant General Hans Leijtens and Dutch Naval Commander in the Caribbean, Brigadier-General Peter Jan de Vin discussed approaches to combatting organised crime during Leijtens’ recent working visit to the Caribbean. Leijtens’ working visit to the region ends today, Tuesday, January 28.
Organised crime puts “pressure on the rule of law in the Kingdom and undermines society,” said the Dutch Navy in a press release on Monday.
At the request of local authorities in the Netherlands and in the Caribbean, the Ministry of Defence can make a greater contribution to tackling crime, said the Dutch Navy.
“The latter can be done based on main task three: ‘supporting local authorities’. For example, as a result of simplification in the application procedures for certain forms of military aid, assistance was provided in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom a total of 69 times in 2019.
“Precisely because of the idea of tackling drug-related crime at the source – also known as upstream disruption – the approach can be intensified with the help of deployment of the armed forces and certainly also the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard.
“This makes the long-term effects noticeable in the region and in the Netherlands. This approach is only possible through cooperation between various ministries and countries, something that requires constant hard work,” concluded the Dutch Navy.
