• Caribbean politician shot dead while drinking beer on beach

    Prince Victor / EPA

    The body of Helmin Wiels is covered by a sheet on a beach in Curacao on Sunday.

    By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News

    A political leader on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao was shot dead as he drank beer on a beach Sunday, authorities said.

    Helmin Wiels, whose Pueblo Soberano party campaigns for independence from the Netherlands, was killed by gunmen who sped off in a car, according to multiple witnesses.

    The 54-year-old died instantly, according to the Curacao Chronicle, which posted a picture of his body on the beach surrounded by drinks.

    A motive for the killing remains unclear, but the Curacao government said Wiels had been threatened in the past and was under security protection, according to the Dutch Volkskrant newspaper.

    Wiels, who had sent his bodyguard home, was enjoying a beer on the island’s Marie Pampoen beach, near the capital, Willemstad, when two gunmen approached him and fired five shots, according to a BBC report.

    Michael Kooren / EPA, file

    Politician Helmin Wiels, who was shot dead on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao on Sunday.

    "This act was horrendous, terrible, and we are in shock,” said Curacao’s Prime Minister Daniel Hodge, according to the BBC. "We are not accustomed to these things on the island.”

    The government of Curacao -- which has a population of about 150,000 and lies just to the north of Venezuela -- said the Netherlands had offered to help with the investigation into the killing.

    Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the apparent assassination was a "cowardly deed."

    "Curacao has lost a driven politician who fought for his ideals and loved his country," Rutte said, according to the BBC.

    This story was originally published on Mon May 6, 2013 7:28 AM EDT

  • Official: Wreckage may be plane carrying fashion icon Vittorio Missoni

    Daniel Dal Zennaro / EPA, file

    Italian fashion scion Vittorio Missoni is shown in a 2009 photo from Milan, Italy. The chief of the Missoni fashion house has been missing along with five others since Jan. 4, when his plane vanished after taking off from the Los Roques resort area en route to Caracas.

    By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Wreckage that may be remains of the missing plane carrying Italian fashion executive Vittorio Missoni and five others has been found on an island off the coast of Venezuela, an Italian official said Friday.

    "I can confirm that the wreckage of an airplane has been found off the coast, but we don't know yet whether this was the same airplane that was carrying Mr. Missoni," an Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

    The wreckage was spotted along a rough stretch of unpopulated coast on the north side of the island of Curacao, said Norman Serphos, spokesman for the Curacao Public Prosecutor's Office. Because of rugged terrain and strong currents offshore, the island's coast guard was called in to assist with the recovery, which was completed Thursday afternoon, he said.

    In the past two weeks, bags belonging to Missoni have been found on the same north coast of Curacao as well as on the neighboring island of Bonaire, Serphos said.

    Venezuelan Government / AP, file

    Venezuela National Civil Aviation Institute search Jan. 9 for a plane that went missing near Los Roques, Venezuela, five days earlier carrying Vittorio Missoni, his wife and four others. Wreckage has been found, but it was unclear early Friday whether it was that of the Missoni's plane.

    He said the material recovered Thursday was in the early stages of scrutiny, and he was cautious about saying whether what was found was indeed part of an aircraft.

    "There is an investigation going on to determine with experts what kind of material it is," Serphos said. "Even if it is from an airplane, then you still have to determine if it's from that aircraft that Mr. Missoni was on. We have a lot of things to do, probably [talk to] the maker of the airplane, the owner of the airplane and [check] the registration. A lot of things have to be confirmed. ... The minute that it's determined that it's an airplane, then the department of aviation will be involved."

    The plane carrying the 58-year-old head of the major fashion house, his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, two Italian friends and two Venezuelan pilots has been missing since Jan. 4, when it took off from the resort area of Los Roques on its way to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

    Minutes after the plane took off, it disappeared from radar.

    The Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman said more information about the wreckage was being eagerly awaited in Italy, where the Missoni name is iconic.

    "We got the news early this morning from our embassy there [in Venezuela]," he said. "The investigations are ongoing. We are checking whether this was the plane."

    The Missoni family has asked for privacy and the company has not issued a statement since Jan. 7, when Angela Missoni, sister of Vittorio, said the family was "moved by the affection and help we've had so far from the whole world and thankful to the authorities for their tireless search and rescue efforts."

    "We will not give up," Angela Missoni said in the statement.

    This story was originally published on Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:07 AM EST

  • Masked men stole 70 gold bars from fishing boat in Curacao

    AP

    The "Summer Bliss" fishing boat sits docked at the Willemstad port in Curacao, on Nov. 30. Masked men in jackets emblazoned with the word "police" boarded the "Summer Bliss" in an early morning assault on Friday and stole 70 gold bars worth an estimated $11.5 million, police spokesman Reggie Huggins said.

    By Karen Attiah, The Associated Press

    Masked men in jackets emblazoned with the word "police" boarded a fishing boat Friday in Curacao and stole 70 gold bars worth an estimated $11.5 million, officials in the southern Caribbean island said.


    The boat's captain was struck in the head in the early-morning assault before the thieves made off with the gold in three cars, police spokesman Reggie Huggins said. Authorities believe there were at least six men involved in the heist. No suspects were in custody.

    Huggins declined to say who owned the approximately 476 pounds of gold but he said it was a legal shipment that was being trans-shipped through Curacao and officials in the island had been advised in advance that it was coming as part of normal security protocols. He declined to disclose the eventual destination of the metal.

    "Authorities knew of the shipment because the official procedure was followed," the spokesman said.

    Huggins said that guards to the port area let the assailants inside a restricted area in the mistaken belief that they were customs officials. The men's jackets had the word "police" in English but in Curacao the word would be written in Papiamento, one of the island's three official languages, as "polis." During the robbery, crew members said they wore hoods and masks and made off with the gold in a matter of minutes.

    "The crew said it was like a movie operation, very fast," Huggins said.

    The captain and three crew members were from the South American country of Guyana, he said.

    The boat, by its appearance, would seem an unlikely place to stash that amount of gold. The "Summer Bliss" is a fishing boat with rust streaks on its white cabin and no visible security.

    A crew member who gave his name as Raymond Emmanuel told The Associated Press that they left Guyana four days ago and arrived early Friday in Curacao. Contradicting police, he said they were delivering the gold to a company in Curacao but said he did not know the name of the business.

    He referred questions about the source of the gold to the captain, who was meeting with authorities on the Dutch Caribbean island and was not immediately available.

    Emmanuel said the gold was locked away when the thieves boarded the vessel. "They took everything," he said.

    The crew member said neither he nor anyone else on the vessel was armed. "This is normal," he said. "We never carry arms. Since I started working here, I've transported gold once before, and this is the system."

    Colin Sparman, executive secretary of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association, said legal shipments are typically made by air under heavy security. But gold smuggling is common to avoid taxes and royalty payments on the precious metal.

    Curacao, just north of Venezuela, is primarily known as tourist destination, particularly for divers. It is also an offshore financial center, especially for people from South America.

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