On Thursday July 10, 2014, the Minister of Justice the Honorable Dennis Richardson held a meeting with the US Consul General Mr. James Moore. The Minister was pleased with the result of the meeting as he was able to update the US Consul General on recent developments in Sint Maarten on the recommendations concerning human trafficking and human smuggling as mentioned in the TIP Report and on initiatives for combating international organized crime and terrorism. Parties agreed that the creation of a structural strong and broad strategic cooperation between the regional partners namely; Sint Maarten, the USA, the Netherlands, France and other nations in the Caribbean and related countries in south America would enhance the effectiveness of our law enforcement agencies.
The Minister of Justice the Honorable Sir Dennis Richardson has already solicited and received the support of the Minister of Justice of the Dominican Republic for such an initiative. The US Consul General promised to support the proposal and consult with the State Department of the US on the initiative. In the meantime the Minister of Justice the Honorable Dennis Richardson will continue to pursue the cooperation of relevant Caribbean and Latin-American nations.
Present at the meeting were representatives of Justice Ministry responsible for the different topics of consultation; Mr. Peter de Witte (Police Chief), Mr. Udo Aron (Dir. Immigration and Border Protection Services), Mr. Eric Noordhoek (Chief Prosecutor), Mr. Taco Stein (Prosecutor) and Mr. Ron Van Der Veer (Dir. of the Ministry of Justice’s Cabinet).