US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE293

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000293 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G, INL, INL/T, EUR/UBI 
ONDCP FOR CSISSON 
DEA FOR OFE/MORALES, CORLEY 
DOJ FOR OIA/FRIEDMAN 
BRUSSELS FOR USEU, LEGATT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR, KCRM, NL 
SUBJECT: Dutch Government investigates drug corruption at 
Schiphol Airport - KLM ground crew arrests. 
 
 
1. At the end of December 2003, the Dutch press reported 
claims made to the police by an Aruban drug smuggler 
convicted in the Netherlands that civil servants and ground 
crew at Schiphol (including customs officers, military 
police, baggage handlers, and cleaners) have been engaged in 
drug smuggling since the mid 1990s.  The unnamed smuggler 
said "corrupt civil servants within the Schiphol Team" 
[group set up in 1993 to fight drug trafficking at Schiphol] 
were involved and he had personally recruited and paid them. 
According to him, the work schedules of particular 
Koninklijke Marechaussee (KMar - military police) staff were 
taken into consideration when importing cocaine from South 
America.  Press reports stated KMar's own investigation 
bureau had found evidence during the summer of 2003 that 
some of its staff may have been involved in drug smuggling 
and there was sufficient basis for further investigation by 
the Rijksrecherche (state criminal investigation office - 
like Internal Affairs). 
 
2. Acting Customs/ICE Attache Vicente met on January 29 with 
Bert Mellema, the team leader of the Operational 
Intelligence Group of the Rijskrecherce.  Mellema did not 
offer details of the ongoing investigation into corruption 
at Schiphol, but confirmed they were conducting an 
investigation.  He also noted there were many more problems 
with airport security (handled by a private company) and 
ground crew personnel, but those investigations were not 
being handled by his office since they did not involve Dutch 
officials.  He lent credence to the smuggler's claims of 
using the internet to provide courier identification to 
airport security.  Mellema noted there had been four major 
investigation into Schiphol corruption over the past 2 
years.  Vicente offered to put Dutch officials in touch with 
American law enforcement officials who have dealt with 
similar offenses in order to exchange best practices. 
Mellema did not take up the offer immediately, but said he 
would consider it. 
 
3. Confirming Mellema's assessment of problems with the 
ground crew personnel, the national crime squad (Nationale 
Recherche) arrested 11 KLM employees who worked in the 
secured baggage handling area on suspicion of cocaine 
smuggling at Schiphol on Feb. 3.  These employees had 
passes, allowing them access to the airport's secured area. 
They allegedly picked up suitcases containing cocaine from 
the baggage area and carried the drugs out in backpacks, 
bags and boxes.  This ongoing "Primera" investigation 
involves coordinated action by local, national, military and 
financial (FIOD-ECD) police, KLM Security Services, and 
Schiphol Airport.  International in scope, "Primera" 
investigators seized 117 kilos of cocaine at Schiphol and 
Aruba airports.  In Belgium, a suspect was arrested carrying 
104 kilos of cocaine in his car.  A spokesperson for the 
Public Prosecutors' Office told the Embassy more arrests are 
expected. 
 
Sobel