Sharp increase in teenagers caught retreiving smuggled drugs
The number of teenagers caught retrieving smuggled drugs from containers has increased significantly in recent years. In 2020, only 1 percent of arrested drug couriers were minors. Last year, that share stood at 22 percent, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported based on research by the Seaport Police.
As the number of child drug couriers increased, so did the number of first offenders caught. In 2020, half of the arrested drug couriers had clean criminal records. By 2022, that was well over three-quarters, according to CBS.
According to ANP, experts think that the increase in children used as drug couriers has to do with a legislative amendment in 2022, which made penalties for retrieving smuggled drugs harsher. This may have led to criminal organizations using children more frequently, as they are more likely to receive lighter sentences.
The research also shows that drug couriers more often come from single-parent families or neighborhoods with higher crime rates. Young people under 23 are at a greater risk of being recruited as a drug courier if they already have a criminal record, have debts, or dropped out of school without graduating.
Since 2020, the Seaport Police have arrested hundreds of drug couriers annually. Last year, the number of arrests dropped to 83 between January and October. The decline is partly due to increased security measures in the port of Rotterdam.
The increased security at Dutch ports may have shifted drug trafficking to Belgium. Half of the 166 drug couriers arrested in Antwerp in the first half of 2025 were from the Netherlands.
