Illegal drug trade in Aruba

The illegal drug trade in Aruba involves trans-shipment of cocaine and other drugs through Aruba to the United States.

Background

Corruption in Aruba is so widespread that Claire Sterling, widely acclaimed for her works on drugs and crime, said of it: "The world's first independent mafia state emerged in 1993."

Cosa Nostra." Between 1988 and 1992 the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan was said to have acquired 60% of Aruba through investments in hotels, casinos and the election-campaign of a Prime Minister.^[2] As a result of the public outcry, Aruba's independence from the Netherlands, planned for 1996, was cancelled.^[2]

Tugboat Off Aruba Coast

The route taken by a strange tugboat that was intercepted off the coast of Aruba and found to have two tons of cocaine on board provides information regarding smuggling techniques and the present position of the Caribbean island in the drug trade. According to El Pitazo, the tugboat was halted on October 13 in the territorial seas of Aruba, one of the Dutch Antilles' islands. The five-person crew, all Venezuelans, were detained and the boat was confiscated after 2.2 tons of cocaine were discovered during an Aruban government check of the vessel. Members of the Colombian navy have scoured the boat, which left from Cartagena, with drug-sniffing dogs. Authorities claimed that the cocaine was likely brought aboard the boat in open waters and that the boat eventually vanished from radar. A cocaine smuggling boat has been discovered in Aruba's territorial seas before this year. Off the island's northern shore, officials detained a suspicious watercraft in August. About 500 kilograms of cocaine were inside. https://insightcrime.org/news/brief/tugboat-off-aruba-coast-hides-more-than-just-cocaine/

Decline

While drug trafficking through Aruba used to be a major issue, it is much less so today.^[when?] Aruba was removed from the US State Department's list of major drug producing and transit countries in 1999. The reason for this decline is unclear. Case Study^{[permanent dead link]}^{[full citation needed]}

References

^ Griffith, Ivelaw L. (1996-7), "Illicit Arms Trafficking, Corruption, and Governance in the Caribbean", Dickinson Journal of International Law, p501, quoting Claire Sterling, Thieves World 21 (1994)
^ ^a ^b Tom Blickman (1997), "The Rothschilds of the Mafia on Aruba", Transnational Organized Crime, Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer 1997

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[1] Griffith, Ivelaw L. (1996-7), "Illicit Arms Trafficking, Corruption, and Governance in the Caribbean", Dickinson Journal of International Law, p501, quoting Claire Sterling, Thieves World 21 (1994)

[roth-2] Tom Blickman (1997), "The Rothschilds of the Mafia on Aruba", Transnational Organized Crime, Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer 1997

[2]

v t e Illegal drug trade in the Americas
United States and Canada Latin America and the Caribbean
Latin America Hispanic North America Northern Caribbean Central America South America
Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Falkland Islands French Guiana Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saba Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands

Background

Tugboat Off Aruba Coast

Decline

See also

References