Criminals using Dutch mail to send hard drugs hidden in Buddha statues, cat food
A special team focused on combating drug trafficking through the postal service has seized over 90 kilograms of hard drugs in the year that it has been operational. The drugs were hidden in various ways, including inside a Buddha statue, among cat food, and washed into a teddy bear, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) announced on Thursday.
Over the past year, the Hit and Run Post Team (HARP) - a collaboration between the police, Customs, and OM - launched 25 investigations and arrested 16 suspects. Six of them have been tried and sentenced to “lengthy prison terms,” the OM said.
The remaining suspects will stand trial soon. The OM called the arrested suspects a “vital link in the international drug supply chain.”
According to the OM, criminals hide drugs in the mail in some remarkable ways. In the past year, the authorities found drugs embedded in a Buddha statue, ecstasy pills in a bag of peanuts, and a large quantity of crystal meth washed into a teddy bear and a scarf, among other things.
A 36-year-old man from Rotterdam was arrested in the last case on July 29. He was remanded into custody for 14 days on Friday.
Last year, Dutch customs officers intercepted over 13,700 letters and parcels containing drugs, compared to 16,500 in 2023. Most involved ecstasy (MDMA) and amphetamine. “The decrease in the number of intercepted parcels is likely due to criminals relocating to other countries,” Customs said. “The risk of being caught in the Netherlands increased with the arrival of the HARP team.”
