Seven arrested in Schiphol drug trafficking investigation

Seven people were arrested in the past seven weeks on suspicion of involvement in drug trafficking at Schiphol, money laundering or both. A total of 13 people are suspected, ten of whom work for a company at the airport, the Koninklijke Marechausee said. Money, several cars, dozens of expensive handbags, watches, and designer clothes were also seized during searches.

The arrested suspects are six men between the ages of 31 and 57 from Amstelveen, Amsterdam, The Hague, Diemen, Nieuw-Vennep, and Rotterdam. A 33-year-old woman from Diemen was also arrested. Three men are still in custody. More arrests are not ruled out by the Public Prosecution Service Noord-Holland, which is leading the investigation.

The suspects came into the picture of the CargoHarc team, a collaboration of customs, FIOD and Marechaussee, after a tip that employees of a company at Schiphol were involved in smuggling drugs. Phones were tapped, encrypted data deciphered, and a financial investigation conducted. In the same investigation, customs intercepted 321 kilograms of cocaine at Schiphol at the end of May. That shipment of drugs came from Ecuador and was worth about 16 million euros.