THE HAGUE--The discovery of hard drugs on board the Dutch Navy ship HMS Johan de Witt earlier this week, has resulted in written questions by Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Chris van Dam of the Christian Democratic Party CDA.
Van Dam is seeking clarity from Minister of Defence Ank Bijleveld-Schouten and Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus. The hard drugs were found in the backpack of a crew member, who has been arrested. The amount or the type of drugs has not been revealed.
The drugs were found just after HMS Johan de Witt had returned to Curaçao from the Bahamas, where the amphibian ship participated in a relief mission of Dutch Defence after Hurricane Dorian.
Member of Parliament (MP) Van Dam asked the ministers the weight of the drugs discovered. He also sought clarity on the zero-tolerance policy of Dutch Defence where it comes to using and transporting illegal drugs.
Van Dam asked whether this policy had been intensified, considering the fact that this was not the first time that drugs had been found in the possession of Dutch military personnel on the islands or in their container with household goods when they returned to the Netherlands.
“Can you indicate which confiscations have taken place in the past five years in containers of Defence personnel upon arrival in the Netherlands from the islands, or confiscations on the different Navy barracks and Navy ships?”
Van Dam further asked about the drug controls at Curaçao’s airport, and whether these controls were effective. “Is it correct that the scanners at Curaçao’s airport have been defective for a while? If so, what are the consequences for the transport of drugs from Curaçao to the Netherlands?”
