Rotterdam Mayor headed to Latin America over drug trafficking concerns

Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb sets off on a working visit to Latin America on Saturday. The agenda includes talks on the fight against drug-related crime. In the past, numerous shipments of cocaine arrived in Europe from Latin American countries, including via the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg.

Aboutaleb is traveling together with the mayors of Antwerp and Hamburg, Bart De Wever and Peter Tschentscher. Employees from the police, the judiciary, customs and the port will also be traveling with them. However, it has not been announced which countries the group will visit.

Aboutaleb and De Wever visited Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica in 2022. A large amount of cocaine comes from these countries. This and an earlier visit "provided a good picture of the possibilities for cooperation and combating the drug problem", the municipality announced at the time.