Taxi drivers in court for exploiting tourists

Eight taxi drivers operating from Schiphol airport are accused of exploiting tourists by charging them exorbitant fares and threatening them with violence if they refused to pay. Four of the suspects appeared in court on Tuesday, De Telegraaf reported.

The taxi drivers were first arrested in 2017. According to the authorities, prime suspect Tarik K. (36) targeted foreign tourists he thought would be easy to scam - people he thought wouldn't speak the Dutch language and looked like they were on their first visit to the Netherlands. He approached the victims and directed them to a taxi driver in his gang, who would then charge them crazy prices for even short trips. If they refused to pay, the tourists were threatened.

In 2016, the gang charged a group of tourists 485 euros to drive them from Schiphol to Amsterdam West. Another man was charged some 600 euros for a trip from the airport to his hotel in Amsterdam Zuidoost. When he refused to pay, K. allegedly took 300 euros from his wallet and his camera and forced him to withdraw more money at an ATM.

The Public Prosecution Service will demand sentences against the suspects next week.