THE HAGUE--A statement of Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb that the drug scanners in Curaçao are not working has Members of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman and Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius concerned.
The two Members of Parliament (MPs) submitted written questions to Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus and State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops after reading Aboutaleb’s observations in the media that the defective drug scanners at Curaçao’s harbour and at the Hato airport were a threat to the Netherlands.
Bosman and Yesilgöz-Zegerius asked Grapperhaus and Knops whether these reports were true, how many scanners were defective, where exactly, since when and what the consequences were for the transport of illegal drugs from Curaçao to the Netherlands.
The MPs further enquired who was responsible for which scanners in Curaçao.
Curaçao Minister of Justice Quincy Girigorie is responsible for the one at Hato airport, but not the other ones. Girigorie has stated in response to Aboutaleb’s remarks that the scanner at the airport works. “The scanner functions as it should, and the mayor knows that,” Girigorie said.
Bosman and Yesilgöz-Zegerius asked Grapperhaus and Knops in what manner controls for drugs took place at the airport and whether there was still 100 per cent control of passengers and their luggage arriving from Curaçao at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The MPs requested an overview of the confiscations in the Netherlands of drugs originating in Curaçao.
Girigorie was not amused by the statement Aboutaleb made late last week at the end of his visit to Curaçao. Aboutaleb hinted that the defective scanners in Curaçao were not conducive to keeping illegal drugs from entering the Netherlands, primarily at the Rotterdam harbour.
According to Girigorie, Aboutaleb was trying to shift the focus of the drug problem from the Netherlands to Curaçao. He said that Curaçao was not the only problem in the transit of narcotics to the Netherlands and, by extension, Europe.
“The Netherlands is one of the biggest importers of drugs and Curaçao serves as the trampoline. The idea that solving the problem in Curaçao will solve the entire problem is a ‘Fata Morgana’ [mirage – Ed.],” he told Antilliaans Dagblad newspaper.
Girigorie emphasised that the Netherlands, as a major drug importing country, was the problem. He blamed the “failing policy” of the Dutch government on this subject. He said the Netherlands had been called a narcotics state where reportedly criminal organisations had already infiltrated judicial entities, and the Rotterdam harbour played a central role in this. He said instead of making accusations, the Netherlands should work with Curaçao to jointly tackle the transhipment of drugs.
