The Dutch Navy seized a total of nearly 700 kilograms of cocaine in two separate drug busts in the Caribbean in the last 48 hours, Hart van Nederland reports.
During a shooting exercise off the coast of Curacao, Dutch frigate Zr. Ms. Van Amstel received a report of a suspicious small motorboat north of the territorial waters of Colombia. The NH-90 helicopter was deployed to find the motorboat, and Zr. Ms. Van Amstel set sail in its direction.
Dutch frigate Zr. Ms. Van Amstel rescued another 175 asylum seekers in the Mediterranean sea. All of them were dropped off on the Italian island of Lampedusa on Wednesday morning
Dutch navy frigate Zr. Ms. Van Amstel rescued another group of asylum seekers on the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, commander Rob Verkerk reports on Twitter.
Dutch navy frigate Zr. Ms. Van Amstel rescued 193 asylum seekers on the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday afternoon, the Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday. The Dutch frigate is taking part in operation Triton of European border agency Frontex.
Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis Plasschaert wants an extension for NATO's anti-human trafficking mission on the Aegean Sea. The mission is set to end over three months, "but leaving in July would be really premature", Hennis said to broadcaster NOS during a visit to the area.
The Dutch navy ship Zr.MS. Van Amstel was selected to participate in the NATO mission against human trafficking between Turkey and Greece. The ship along with some 150 soldiers will join the mission on the Aegean sea in July, Ministers Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert of Defense and Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday
