Criminal Investigation in Aruba against 3 Suspects Still On … “there are circumstances that may prolong criminal cases”

It has been two years since Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba. So many of the media outlets have been misreporting the 2 year rule in Aruba that deals with suspects and crimes. If Joran, Deepak and Satish thought they had run out the clock … NOT SO FAST.

The OM indicated that the basic principle of criminal cases in First Instance is that the trial and verdict indeed take place within two years after the ‘reasonable term’ has started.  

It all depends on how one defines reasonable and in Aruba nothing has been reasonable when it came to the investigation, search and prosecution of Joran Van der Sloot, Deepak Kalpoe or Satish Kalpoe.

That reasonable term starts the moment a suspect can reasonably assume that he will be prosecuted.       This is not laid down in a specific rule, but the beginning of the reasonable term can be when the suspect is taken into custody, or when an inquest is opened against the suspect.    

The investigation and the hearing against him would have basically been concluded on this date.   But according to the OM , there are circumstances that may prolong criminal cases with more than two years, ‘without being able to say that the duration is unreasonably long”.   Circumstances are the complexity of the case, the influence of the suspect and/or his lawyer on the progress of the process and the way the case is handled by the authorized authorities.      

If the three suspects think they are out of the woods, they best think again. This time there will be no cover up and being able to run to daddy. After 2 years of a botched investigation and 2 years of a failing tourism, Aruba needs to get their man or continue to suffer the consequences.

Amigoe, June 1, 2007: Criminal investigation still on    

Police and volunteers are ready for a big search operation for the disappeared teenager in June of 2005.

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Aruba, Too Many Hotels … endangering nature and a Disappointment for the tourists that come to Aruba to rest and expect good service.

Hey Aruba … Its not easy being green.

Well here is a completely different take on Aruba and how the developers are in the process of ruining the once, “One Happy Island”. Sometimes its not about how many hotels, restaurants or condos one can build in a vacation spot that makes it a viable location. Sometimes its about the ambiance and the purpose as to what brings people to a particular location over another. With Aruba struggling with “post-Natalee Holloway” syndrome otherwise known as “cover up a crime,” Aruba looks to the answer as being … if you build it they will forget and come. They could not bee more wrong, in so many ways.

Stimaruba says that the unspoiled nature of Aruba is going to be endangered by the construction plans for a hotel near Arashi.

Stimaruba, the organization that devotes herself to nature conservation and nature protection, reacted very concerned on the reports about the plans for the build of a hotel near Arashi.   The organization points out a publication in February 2006 of Coastal Zone Management, in which is clearly indicated that the area is reserved for recreation.   Stimaruba is of the opinion that there are too many hotels in Aruba already.    

From the plans it appears that there is no end to the build of hotels and condominiums and that is according to Stimaruba, a disappointment for the tourists that come to Aruba to rest and expect good service.   That’s what they pay for.   “They are our guests and they have to feel welcome here.”  

Just because one builds more does not necessarily correlate into more tourism. Especially when Aruba does not address the number one PR nightmare they they have in not properly investigating or prosecuting the crimes against Natalee Holloway. Beyond the PR issue, Aruba faces another tourism problem. Many people cane to Aruba and purchased time sharing and return vacations because of its quaint culture and hospitable people. Much of that is all gone and continues to erode as more hotels are built, more workers are imported and Aruba grows farther and farther away from the island in the Caribbean that everyone once wanted to vacation on.

Amigoe, May 30, 2007: Stimaruba is up in arms against hotel construction    

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Royal Caribbean regarding project with Aruba Ports Authority: “We have always been honest and open”

Isn’t this priceless? Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines making the comments regarding the recent issues of the project with Aruba Ports Authority, “We have always been honest and open.” I would imagine their are several families with missing loved ones that would beg to differ with you Royal Caribbean.

John Tercek, vice-president commercial development of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) told the Amigoe in a letter that he regrets the fact that certain persons, “that have nothing to do with the project with Aruba Ports Authority and are not aware of the facts, have made defamatory remarks even before an agreement was entered.

Of course their are many people including  Dave Holloway and Beth Twitty that would ask the same about Aruba.  Trying to find an “open and honest” player between  Royal Caribbean and Aruba will be a difficult task at best. Talk about the pot and the kettle being a certain color.

Amigoe, May 27, 2007: We have always been honest and open    

ORANJESTAD — John Tercek, vice-president commercial development of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) told the Amigoe in a letter that he regrets the fact that certain persons, “that have nothing to do with the project with Aruba Ports Authority and are not aware of the facts, have made defamatory remarks even before an agreement was entered.    

Tercek’s letter was the first official reaction of Royal Caribbean on the occurrences that started more than two months ago, after the letter of Effy Namdar about a donation in the election’s cashbox in exchange for properties in the harbour area, was made public.      

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Traffic Fatalities Up in Aruba, Drug Confiscation Up & that 2005 Crime still Unsolved

So you are thinking about renting a car at the airport on “One Happy Island”? You may want to rethink that choice, traffic fatalities are up in 2007. Although there are no traffic accident statistics in this article it does appear that there always seem to be a bad accident covered in the pages of Diario and Bon Dia.

Police Corps Aruba ( KPA ) is very concerned about the 11 persons that died in traffic this year, and we are only in the fifth month.   In the entire year of 2006, the number of persons that died in traffic was 14.       The reasons for the accidents were in almost all the cases irresponsible driving.   This has to change, because if it continues, the figures of 2007 will be much higher. (Amigoe)

Check out the amount of drugs that have been confiscated in Aruba by the police in 2007 as compared to 2006. Does anyone think there is not a rise in drug use to correlate with this number?

Another priority of the KPA is tackling the local drug dealings and sale.   It causes inconvenience and criminality.   Compared to 2006, the police have confiscated almost 600 cocaine and 50 kilo heroine versus 109 and 12 in 2006.

(Vanderbilt – ’07)

There were 12 reported robberies a day in Aruba in 2006. Wow, that seems like an extremely large number for an island on 100K in population. Then there is the final statistic, the number of deadly criminal offenses in 2006. However, it is not the solved deadly criminal offenses in 2006 that is Aruba’s problem. It is that one unsolved crime  in 2005 that hangs over Aruba like a dark cloud and will continue to do so in to the future until there is “Justice for Natalee”.

Amigoe; May 22, 2007: Police The number of fatal traffic accidents has to drop    

Already eleven fatalities in traffic in 2007, and that is unacceptable for the police.

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Man Sentenced in Aruba for Money Laundering 300,000 euros in Drug Money, Verdict is of Great Importance … Surely you Jest

Aruba prosecutes a man for 2 years for what is the equivalence of $400K US in money laundering and some how this is a ground breaking, important verdict? For who exactly? Seriously, any arrest and prosecution for money laundering in Aruba is usually a good things as money laundering is inherently tied with drug trafficking. However, in the Caribbean $400K is nothing as compared to the multi-billion dollar drug trade in which money laundering goes hand in hand. Talk about a drop in the bucket.

The billions of dollars now believed to be flowing through such offshore bank havens as Antigua, Aruba, the Cayman Islands and St. Maarten are difficult for authorities to trace because under these countries’ laws it is easy to open a bank, and depositor and transaction information must be kept secret. In some Caribbean nations, money laundering is not a crime.

Barry McCaffrey, a retired general who is the Clinton administration’s anti-drug czar, said he had seen estimates that up to $50 billion from the sale of narcotics, out of an annual world total of $500 billion, is laundered through the Caribbean, making it a “ferociously corrupting influence” in the region. (Washington Post)

This case is supposed to make cases easier, who are they kidding? The guy who was arrested was a rank armature. That what protects drug dealers and money launders is not the restrictions of laws to go after them, but the fear to.

In most cases, it is very difficult for the police and the OM to accurately indicate from which specific drug- or other illegal transaction the money comes from. (Amigoe)

Arresting someone for laundering 300,000 euros as compared to what actually goes on in Aruba is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. But then again how typical, on the surface it appears to be a good will gesture, but in reality means nothing. All show and no substance.

Amigoe, May 21, 2007: Location and persecution of money laundering matters easier  

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