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A15
LOCAL Monday 8 July 2019

25 years corporation in counterdrugs operations between the

Dutch Navy and the USA

SAVANETA — Stopping the flow of illicit drugs in the Carib-
bean is a team effort. 25 years ago the Royal Netherlands
Navy joined JIATF-S in Key West, FL. The Commander of the
Dutch forces in the Caribbean took up the role of Com-
mander Task Group 4.4 (CTG4.4) and has been part of the
international effort against illicit trafficking in the region
ever since.

Recently the Dutch Navy ship HNLMS Groningen visited
Key West, where the Director JIATFS RADM DeQuattro
and Deputy Director RDML Keck were welcomed aboard
to celebrate 25 years of close cooperation between The
Netherlands and the United States.

As CTG4.4 the Dutch Navy helps to improve regional secu-
rity. The smaller (islands) states of the Caribbean, including
the islands of the Dutch Caribbean, can’t fight organized
crime and the flow of illicit trafficking of drugs and weap-
ons on their own. International partnerships form the solu-
tion. In JIATFS 20 countries from the Latin American and Ca-
ribbean regions work together to combat illicit trafficking.

Drugs are a worldwide problem. In the Caribbean region
most of the drugs smuggled across are cocaine, on its way
to the US or Europe. Often it comes together with illegal
migration and guns trafficking. Every year violence related
to drugs trafficking results in the loss of life of hundreds of
people, of which many are innocent. The drug problem
weighs heavy on society, accounting for significant costs in
health care, law enforcement and prevention.q