THE HAGUE, WILLEMSTAD - US missions conducted from the FOL base in Curaçao in the past year have contributed to the interception of a total of 280,000 kilos of cocaine and another 24,000 kilos of marijuana. This is stated in the report on the annual evaluation of the Forward Operating Locations treaty that the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok, also on behalf of his colleague from Defense, Ank Bijleveld, sent to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament and the governments of Curaçao and Aruba today.
The treaty gives the Americans permission to operate flights from Hato airports in Curaçao and Reina Beatrix in Aruba for the purpose of surveillance, monitoring and tracing drug shipments. The flights are conducted unarmed. “The Kingdom benefits from American air reconnaissance on the basis of which drug shipments can be traced and intercepted. In many cases, the latter is done in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Navy. Combating the drugs problem in the Caribbean region is of global importance,” the report said.
In the period from October 2018 to September 2019, 385 flights were operated. All flights took place from Curaçao. No flights were operated from Aruba during this period. The total number of flight hours from the FOL was 2,583. “The collaboration is experienced by everyone as very constructive,” the evaluation said.
The FOL treaty between the Kingdom and the United States was entered into in 2001 and has since been extended twice. The current five-year period ends on November 2, 2021. Blok reports that the procedure for a new extension has now started.
