WILLEMSTAD:--- On Monday, May 9, two U.S. federal law enforcement agencies, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), trained approximately 30 criminal investigators from Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, and the Netherlands in Curaçao on human trafficking, including how to recognize indicators and trace financial transactions linked to this crime. Nearly 30 additional investigators from Aruba, Bonaire, and Saint Maarten participated in the training virtually.
Modern-day slavery. Victims with physical and psychological trauma. Hidden in plain sight. Human trafficking is happening around us – often undetected – in communities across the globe, including the Dutch Caribbean. Investigators need to know what to look for and how to prove that a criminal act took place in a court of law, and that’s why training and education are so important to combat this heinous crime.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft, and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, boasting a nearly 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
The United States expresses its gratitude to the people and Government of the Dutch Caribbean for their efforts to counter human trafficking.