Shrimp boat capt. caught in drug trafficking plot

The Public Prosecutor announced on Tuesday that the police have arrested the captain of a shrimp boat as well as another man on the boat on suspicion of involvement in international drug trafficking, in the harbor of Den Oever.

A third man from Urk is being held for allegedly laundering tens of thousands of criminally earned euros.

Through the investigation into this case it was shown that the fishing boat possibly picked up the narcotics at sea in October 2013. The police and customs searched the shrimp boat after the arrests. The home of one of the suspects in Scherpenzeel was also examined. During the search smart phones, navigation equipment and documents were seized.

Two other suspects came into the picture earlier because of their involvement in the landing of narcotics using fishing vessels. One of them was involved in the above case in the preparation of the import of a large shipment of cocaine from Venezuela, a statement from the Public Prosecutor says. A sailing vessel would be used to smuggle drugs out of South America and the party would then transfer the shipment off the Dutch coast.