DUTCH CARIBBEAN AIRLINES TO BEGIN SCREENING PASSENGERS TO FIGHT DRUG SMUGGLING

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Curacao-based Dutch Caribbean Airline will begin
screening passengers before they buy tickets in an effort to stop drug
smuggling on flights to the Netherlands, the justice minister said.

The agreement signed Friday by Antillean Justice Minister Rutsel Martha and
Dutch Caribbean chief executive officer Mario Evertsz, lets the airline
prohibit passengers from buying a ticket who have previous drug trafficking
convictions or are otherwise considered suspicious by Antillean authorities.

It goes a step further than an April arrangement between KLM and the
Antillean government, which screens people just before boarding.

KLM began preflight screening on April 15 after chief executive officer Leo
van Wijk threatened to stop flying to Curacao because of problems with drug
smugglers. Days before the agreement, a passenger died on an April 5 flight
when a cocaine-filled condom burst in his stomach.

Customs officials have arrested 337 suspected "drug mules" in Curacao this
year. Last year, drug smugglers arrested as they tried to board flights in
Curacao were carrying more than 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds) of cocaine.

KLM now sends a passenger list to the police about an hour before each
flight. The police recommends which passengers to reject, and those
rejected are refunded.

Martha said that since last week Dutch Caribbean travel agents have an
online connection with Ministry of Justice. The agents will provide daily
reports of each person that booked a flight and the ministry will recommend
which should be allowed to travel.

Airline officials were not available to comment Saturday.

"Doing this prevents potential drug traffickers from traveling to Holland.
If said person is rejected, (the airline) doesn't have to pay back any
money either," Marta said Friday.

This method will apply to people who book their flight more than a month
ahead. Shorter notice bookings will undergo screening at the airport.

KLM airline has turned away hundreds of passengers for flights from Curacao
to Amsterdam under new screening for drug smugglers that has led to scores
of no-shows and 24 arrests this week.