Dutch police arrest 22 musicians on drugs charges
AFP
THE HAGUE- Dutch police arrested 22 members of a Surinamese brass band at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport on Saturday, on suspicion of smuggling hard drugs, authorities said.
"During checks on a flight from Suriname, 22, people were arrested," Robert van Kapel, a spokesman for the airport's gendarmerie, told AFP.
Those arrested said that they were part of a brass band, he added.
Investigators will determine in the coming days whether all those arrested had swallowed pellets of cocaine, and if so, how much, said van Kapel.
According to Dutch media reports, those arrested were members of the Naks Kaseko Loco orchestra, which was due to tour the country in the coming weeks.
Dutch officers have been conducting intensive checks on flights coming from the Dutch Antilles and from Suriname, with all passengers at the very least having their luggage searched.
The former Dutch colonies are considered as gateway countries for the importation into Europe of large quantities of drugs produced in Latin America.
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