Cameras to help fight cocaine, human trafficking at Rotterdam port

By Janene Pieters on June 14, 2018 - 16:00
107 kilos of cocaine found in a false ceiling in a container at the port of Rotterdam, 28 Jun 2017
107 kilos of cocaine found in a false ceiling in a container at the port of Rotterdam, 28 Jun 2017. (Photo: Public Prosecutor / OM)

The Rotterdam investigative authorities are going to use cameras for extra surveillance at the port of Rotterdam. They hope that this will help in the fight against cocaine- and human trafficking. "In this way the net around the cocaine traffickers will be pulled tighter again", Bert Wiersema, director of enforcement policy at customs, said NU.nl reports.

The first new cameras were installed on the Maasvlakte following a successful test on Sluisjesdijk. Almost 200 more will be added in the coming years. 

Customs, the seaport police, the municipality and the Port Authority are involved in this initiative. 

In April eight people were arrested for involvement in cocaine trafficking via to port of Rotterdam. Earlier this month it was revealed that customs officers and port employees were bribed, sometimes with millions of euros, to cooperate with traffickers. 

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