Schiphol airport drug trafficking arrests fall by 20 percent

Customs officers at Schiphol Airport arrested a total of 645 drug traffickers on flights from the Antilles, Suriname and Venezuela last year. That is a 20 percent decrease compared to 2014, a spokesperson for Customs said to broadcaster NOS. The number of drug traffickers arrested in the airport has been declining for the last few years. In 2012 a total of 880 were arrested and in 2013 there were 854. According to the spokesperson, Customs is waiting to see whether the decrease continues in the coming years before drawing any conclusions. Since 2003 all passengers of "risk flights" - flights from Suriname, Venezuela and the Antilles, among others - are checked for drugs. That is about 30 flights a week. The Customs spokesperson said that it can not be determined with certainty that drug traffickers are now avoiding Schiphol. But history shows that organized crime quickly responds to new measures taken, the spokesperson said.