C. Wiebes - Intelligence en de oorlog in Bosnië 1992-1995. De rol van de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten - Engels

90The BVD collaborated closely on Yugoslavia with the Economic Intelligence Unit(Economische Controledienst, ECD) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The ECD supervisedcompliance with the embargo against the warring factions, and also discovered a number ofirregularities. For instance, in 1994 the ECD investigated a consignment of canned baby food, in which7.62 mm ammunition was found that was probably destined for the Bosnian Army. On anotheroccasion, the ECD investigated part of a consignment of 200 kg of vacuum-packed tins of milk powderdestined for Bosnia, where 13 of the 24 tins turned out to contain rifle ammunition. Each tin containedtwo boxes of 24 cartridges each. This consignment was destined for a hospital in the Muslim enclave ofBihac; the tins were from a Dutch company. The ECD investigation revealed that the ammunition wasnot put into the tins during the production process. Neither was it plausible that a stopover had beenmade somewhere in the Netherlands during the transport to Bosnia to fill the tins with ammunition.The most plausible explanation was that the tins of baby food were filled with ammunition during astopover in Croatia. It is possible that a great deal of ammunition and explosives were smuggled to thewarring factions in this simple way. The ECD did not rule out that this was part of a well-preparedoperation that had already been in existence for some considerable time. Perhaps this smuggling systemwas an important supplier of ammunition to the Armija Bosna i Hercegovina (ABiH). 414 The GermanBundesnachrichtendienst was probably also involved, 415 and in this way more than 17,000 cartridges were saidto have been smuggled to the ABiH in Bihac. 416The BVD collaborated with its foreign counterparts to acquire information on the role andactivities of Yugoslav organized crime. In addition, the BVD had arrangements for sharing informationwith the Bosnian security service. This was used especially for sharing intelligence on war crimes. In theNetherlands, the BVD collaborated particularly closely with the MIS, the National Criminal IntelligenceAgency (CRI), the Criminal Intelligence Service, the local police intelligence services, and the Ministryof Justice with respect to administering the Temporary Regulation for the Reception of DisplacedPersons. There were also frequent contacts with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND),whose responsibilities included monitoring the legal residence of foreigners.For the BVD, the IND kept an eye on which Displaced Persons could supply interestinginformation, which made this body the first point of contact for the BVD. The IND worked with whatwere known as ‘profile’ data concerning those whom the BVD found interesting, for example whetherthe Displaced Person had belonged to a certain paramilitary group or had worked for an intelligence orsecurity service. Sometimes this approach would be productive, but in the majority of cases it failed todeliver results. In this regard, much more information came from the local police and the RoyalNetherlands Marechaussee, to which the refugees always reported first. 417The MIS’s countermove: Team OlivierThe tense situation in Yugoslavia and the increasing flow of Displaced Persons led, as mentioned, tothe creation of Team Adriaan in the BVD. The MIS responded to this by setting up its own unit: TeamOlivier, which included representatives of the MIS/Central Organization (part of theCounterintelligence and Military Security Bureau) and the MIS/Army (Operations Department).Different ideas existed on the collaboration between Team Adriaan and Team Olivier. Thecollaboration between the BVD and the Counterintelligence Bureau of the MIS/CO proceededsatisfactorily, according to some. There was a regular meeting once a month, and once every 6 monthsthere was a major meeting. 418414 Archive ECD, International Economic Investigation Branch, Statement no. 2005178, 27/04/94 plus appendices.415 See Chapter 4 of this study.416 Tim Judah, ‘German spies accused of arming Bosnian Muslims’, in: The Sunday Telegraph, 20/04/97.417 Confidential interview (15).418 Confidential interview (19) and interview with HMID, P.J. Duijn, 04/04/01.