Fourteen persons, including 13 Jamaicans and a man of Middle Eastern descent, were last Thursday arrested by Dutch police and local authorities on the Dutch Antillean island of Sint Maarten in connection with a drug smuggling ring.

An undisclosed amount of drugs, cash and several weapons were also seized during the operation.

Insufficient evidence

The ring is believed to have been operating between Sint Maarten and the United States. Authorities believe that the drugs was being smuggled into the U.S. mainland via a cruise ship. The Sint Maarten Daily Herald reported yesterday that it has been confirmed that at least four of the persons detained during last week's operation were employed by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.

However, since the arrests, three of those taken into custody have been released, prosecutors say, because there is insufficient evidence to show their involvement in the alleged drug-smuggling operation.

Meantime, local authorities in Sint Maarten are reportedly working closely with their counterparts in an undisclosed country in an attempt to ascertain details about the drug smuggling operation. Public prosecutor Taco Stein was quoted in newspapers as saying that interrogations of the suspects remaining in custody were still ongoing, and he was unable to say how long the smuggling ring had been in operation.