Amsterdam putting up street signs to warn tourists against drug dealers

Amsterdam is launching a campaign to warn tourists and day-trippers against drug dealers in the city. The municipality is putting up signs and LCD screens with warnings throughout the Red Light District, mayor Femke Halsema announced, NOS reports. 

According to Halsema, coffeeshops in the city center attract many tourists who come to Amsterdam especially for them. Drug dealers mainly target these visitors causing "large-scale and strongly nuisance crime," the mayor said in a letter to the city council. According to her, about a thousand dealers are active in the city.

Amsterdam is also expanding its surveillance camera network and considering deploying hosts in the Red Light District later in the night. The hosts will welcome visitors, answer their questions, and address the visitors if they cause a nuisance. Halsema is also talking with the catering industry about not allowing drug dealers in their establishments. According to her, some dealers spend the money they earn immediately in the catering industry.

This is part of the mayor's plan to tackle drug dealing in the city. On Monday, she also announced that she plans to go through with a ban on coffeeshops selling cannabis to international tourists.