Less cocaine intercepted at Rotterdam port in first half of this year: Customs
Customs intercepted 15,600 kilos of cocaine at Dutch seaports in the first six months of 2025, which is 400 kilos less than during the same period last year. According to Customs, the amount of cocaine intercepted at the Port of Rotterdam dropped significantly to just over 7,000 kilos, down from 11,875 kilos in the same period last year.
The number of interceptions remained roughly the same, but the quantity of cocaine per seizure was lower than in previous years. The drop is likely due to more stringent controls at the port in the last few years.
“The approach in the port of Rotterdam definitely seems to be working, but there is certainly a caveat, the Director-General of Customs, Nanette van Schelven, said. “A lot of cocaine is still coming into Europe, and it’s entering through all sorts of routes.”
She added that countries which previously had little trouble with drug smuggling through their seaports are now facing growing challenges. Van Schelven named Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, and countries in the southern part of Europe as examples.
On the other hand, a major haul of 4,500 kilos of cocaine was seized in the port of Amsterdam. In the port of Vlissingen, 4,140 kilos were intercepted over the same period, which is roughly the same amount as last year.
In addition, customs reported that fewer people were arrested at airports for smuggling drugs. A total of 93 passengers were arrested for attempting to smuggle cocaine through an airport. This is a significant reduction compared to last year, when 161 passengers were caught. The cocaine was mainly found on flights from the Caribbean, South America, and West Africa.
The quantity of cocaine seized at airports was also lower than in the previous year. This also applied to the number of intercepted letters and packages containing drugs. These packages often contain ecstasy/MDMA, LSD, and amphetamines.
Customs also seized around 96 million illegal cigarettes. This is around the same as in previous years.
Reporting by ANP and NL Times
