Half of Rotterdam-Rijnmond explosions tied to private disputes, not organized crime
Half of the explosions rocking the Rotterdam-Rijnmond region in recent years are not linked to organized crime, police chief Tolga Koklu said, with many triggered by private disputes. “Sometimes it’s a personal conflict,” Koklu told Rijnmond. “Like: you looked at me wrong or you took my girlfriend.”
Police reported 252 explosions from January through November 2024, compared with 223 during the same period this year. Koklu, who became head of the Rotterdam-Rijnmond police unit on September 1, 2025, inherited a region plagued by repeated detonations, mostly involving heavy, illegal fireworks such as Cobra rockets.
The blasts often occur in residential neighborhoods. “The loud blasts in residential areas hit me hard,” Koklu said. “Victims wonder why they are being targeted, and it disturbs the sense of security in the neighborhoods.”
Some of the most persistent targets have been locations connected to the late Vlaardingen plumber Ron van Uffelen. Even after his death in August 2024, disturbances continued around his properties. Earlier this month, three explosives went off near a school in Hoogvliet within a single week.
“Fifty percent of the explosions are connected to the criminal world,” he said. “The other half comes from private disputes. These are everyday conflicts and they are not new. What is new is that Cobras are now being used to settle these kinds of disputes.”
The young people placing the explosives often earn a few hundred euros from brief nighttime operations. They are recruited through social media platforms like Snapchat. "They are disposable, misused by criminals. The real instigators of the violence often escape justice. But we are tracking them more precisely,” Koklu said.
