THE HAGUE, 13/02/07 - The number of Dutch citizens in prison in South America has increased substantially in recent years. They are almost all in custody for drugs offences, RTL Nieuws reports.

The TV news programme has obtained possession of reports from the Dutch embassies in Argentina, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Peru. In these countries, there are on average three times as many Dutch prisoners as in 2004.

In total, 2,600 Dutch citizens are in prison abroad, four out of five of them for drug running. This proportion is apparently even higher in South America.

The Dutch embassies in South America have requested the Foreign Ministry for more personnel to help the Dutch prisoners. Embassy personnel are so busy with this at present that there is no time for other work, the leaked annual reports state.

Drug runners have been choosing other routes for entering the Netherlands since all passengers on flights from the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname to the Netherlands have been routinely checked for drugs. A new direct flight from Peru to the Netherlands will be starting shortly, and the embassy in Lima advises that this should be monitored closely.