customs

Customs officials found shipments of cocaine in two unusual places over the past few days. Some 300 kilograms of cocaine was found in a haul of frozen concentrated orange juice, while another 70 kilograms was found within a shipment of ferronickel.

A routine check of a sea container at the Rotterdam port led officials on Wednesday to the larger of the two drug hauls. The container from Brazil was loaded with barrels of frozen orange juice, destined for a business in Rotterdam.

The Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate warned Netherlands consumers to be careful of medicines advertised to work against the coronavirus Covid-19. "There are no medicines or vaccines against the coronavirus yet," the Inspectorate said.

In the Netherlands it is illegal to advertise unregistered medicines claiming to be effective against a disease, virus or condition. "But manufactures and suppliers often seek the loopholes of the law," the Inspectorate added. Other countries also don't have these restrictions and advertise online.

A large quantity of heroin was found hidden on board a ship in Rotterdam just before the end of the year, authorities at the port said. Police and Customs officers discovered some 439 kilograms of the narcotic hidden below a shipment of talc stone during a routine check.

The cargo was still inside a sea container on the ship when it was inspected, police said. Authorities seized and destroyed and destroyed the drugs.

No arrests were announced in the case, police disclosed on Friday. The investigation is still ongoing.

Customs officers intercepted a large amount of cocaine during a check at the port of Rotterdam on Monday. The drugs were hidden in around 40 barrels of frozen fruit pulp, the Public Prosecutor said on Wednesday.

The container with the drugs came from Brazil. The cocaine was removed and destroyed. 

The HARC team, a joint venture of Customs, FIOD, Seaport Police, and the Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam, is investigating.

On Wednesday a online store was shut down and three homes in Arnhem and one in Hengelo were raided as part of an investigation into sales tax fraud and forgery of documents when importing goods from China, FIOD, the Tax Authority's investigative department, said in a statement on Friday. 

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb wants to station Dutch police- and customs officers in Colombia in the fight against drug trafficking. The port of Rotterdam is one of the main transit ports for Colombian cocaine. The Rotterdam mayor is therefore currently visiting the Colombian port city of Cartagena to see how he can improve cooperation with local authorities, NOS reports.

A customs officer who was arrested in February for releasing a container with 1,500 kilograms of cocaine inside, is also suspected of helping criminals import a large batch of drugs in at least one other case, the Public Prosecutor said during a pro-forma hearing against Hassan O. on Wednesday, NOS reports.

Customs officers seized over 800 kilograms of cocaine at the port of Rotterdam early in June, the Public Prosecutor announced on Sunday. A massive 720 kilos of the drug were discovered in a banana shipment on June 6th, and two smaller shipments totaling in 86 kilograms were discovered on June 4th.

The Dutch investigative authorities like customs and the police do not work well together in combating drug trafficking in the port of Rotterdam, researchers at Erasmus University concluded after an extensive study commissioned by the Rotterdam municipality, police, customs and Public Prosecutor. Information is not always shared and the authorities mainly focus on so-called "retrievers" of the drugs, which means that the organizers of the drug shipments remain out of reach, the researchers said, NOS reports.

More investigators and customs officers are needed to combat drug crime in the port of Rotterdam, according to Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb. The Rotterdam mayor calls on the government to structurally tackle undermining crime, NOS reports.

Three customs officer working in the port of Rotterdam were arrested on Monday on suspicion of money laundering. 

The three men, aged 31, 34 and 37 from Rotterdam, Schiedam and The Hague, were arrested after three homes and a business premises were searched in January, NOS reports.

They fell under suspicion because they made striking cash withdrawals and deposits on their bank accounts. According to the Public Prosecutor, these amounts were not in proportion with their legal income as customs officers.