THE HAGUE - The Kingdom has extended the treaty that allows the United States to carry out counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean region for 5 years. Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok wrote this to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament today.

The so-called Forward Operating Locations treaty (FOL) will expire on 2 November. The treaty was concluded in Oranjestad on March 2, 2000 and entered into force on November 2, 2001. The treaty is based on a statutory law. In 2011 and 2016 it was extended by 5 years. In practice, the Americans only use the Curaçao airport for reconnaissance flights.

In 2018-2019, the last period for which figures were released, the flights contributed to the interception of 280,000 kilograms of cocaine and 24,000 kilograms of marijuana.