A Dutch father and his two sons were arrested in Belgium and Spain over the past weeks for smuggling 3,300 kilograms of cocaine into the Netherlands through the port of Antwerp. The cocaine was seized in a warehouse in Hazeldonk in January 2017. All three suspects have been extradited to the Netherlands and are in custody, the police said in a statement.
drug trafficking
Mar 21 '19 10:50
The Dutch and Belgian police seized 1,500 kilograms of cocaine at the port of Antwerp on Friday. The cocaine, hidden in a banana shipment, was intended for a company in Kapelle. 14 men were arrested at the company, the police said in a statement.
On Monday a police SWAT team raided the company in Kapelle, after the truck that contained the cocaine arrived there. The arrested suspects are from Rotterdam, Goes, Middelburg, Hansweert, Amsterdam and Berkel-Enschot. Three of them have no permanent place of residence.
Mar 18 '19 09:01
A 55-year-old man and his 17-year-old daughter were injured in a shooting in Amstelveen on Saturday afternoon. The injured man has a criminal record and is suspected of cocaine trafficking and money laundering, according to broadcaster NOS.
The shooting happened at around 12:00 p.m. on Grote Wielen in Westwijk. The two victims were taken to hospital. Both were conscious and able to speak to aid workers. According to the police, they sustained only minor injuries.
Mar 14 '19 09:07
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.
Mar 6 '19 12:40
During raids in dozens of apartments in The Hague neighborhood of Ypenburg on Tuesday morning, the police confiscated millions of euros in cash, five firearms, narcotics and 14 cars. A total of 18 people were arrested, the police said in a statement.
Mar 6 '19 11:50
The Public Prosecutor suspects that 22-year-od Mehmet A. from Tiel, a police officer in training in Amsterdam, was deliberately stationed with the police to pass on information to the underworld, the Prosecutor said in the trial against the man on Tuesday. A. is suspected of selling confidential police information to criminals. The Prosecutor demanded 45 months in prison and a ban on performing a public function for 8 years against the man, AT5 reports.
Feb 19 '19 11:20
Another two Schiphol employees were arrested in an investigation into large-scale drug trafficking. The two men, aged 33 and 44 from Amsterdam, worked in the baggage, catering and cleaning departments. They were arrested by the Koninklijke Marechaussee on Tuesday, NU.nl reports.
Twelve other arrests were made in this investigation last year. Nine of those suspects worked at Schiphol. The suspects arrested last year have since been released from custody and will appear in court at a later date. The two arrested on Tuesday are in custody.
Feb 15 '19 13:30
The police in Oosterhout arrested a 28-year-old man for being in the possession of kilograms of cocaine. The cocaine was found in the man's car after the police confiscated it because the man had an unpaid fine, the police said in a statement.
On Wednesday the police and municipality went to check the man's home due to suspicions of housing fraud and that there was a cannabis plantation there. When they arrived no one answered their knocking, so the police forced the door open. Inside they found the 28-year-old man.
Feb 15 '19 12:40
A massive 1,500 kilograms of cocaine was found hidden among mangoes in a container at the port of Rotterdam on Wednesday. A 37-year-old customs officer from Rotterdam was arrested on suspicion of involvement in this drug transport, the Public Prosecutor announced.
The container came from Brazil, according to the Prosecutor.
Dec 7 '18 15:00
The court in Amsterdam sentenced three men to up to 13 years in prison for large-scale cocaine trafficking. Large batches of cocaine were smuggled out of South America on container ships, thrown overboard at sea, and then fished out by fishing boats from Urk and brought to the Netherlands, NOS reports.
The most severe punishment was imposed on Muhammed S. According to the court, he played a leading role in the smuggling network, which has been trafficking cocaine to the Netherlands since 2015. S. was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Nov 30 '18 14:10
The police arrested 12 people in the Netherlands for involvement in the production and export of drugs to Scandinavia. A 13th suspect was arrested in Peer, Belgium. The suspects are 12 men and a woman between the ages of 32 and 16 years. They were arrested on Monday, but the police only announced the arrests on Thursday.
The police searched buildings in Utrecht, Vleuten, Woerden, Maarssen, Houten, Almere, Waardenburg, Lopikerkapel and Aalsmeer.
Nov 29 '18 08:27
Criminals abuse PostNL's parcel delivery system. The network of subcontracted package delivers are misused by criminals for things like drug transports and money laundering, Financieele Dagblad reports.
In 2014 PostNL CEO Herna Verhagen was warned about the vulnerability of courier- and parcel delivery companies, according to the newspaper. These businesses are vulnerable to threats, intimidation, money laundering, drug trafficking and and bribery, FD writes.
Nov 16 '18 11:37
Two men were taken into custody on Tuesday near Dordrecht in connection with a multiple homicide in Enschede. One of the pair, a 26-year-old from the Overijssel city, was still in police detention Thursday night in connection with the shooting deaths of the four victims.
Nov 15 '18 11:20
Customs divers found 239 kilograms of marijuana hidden under a sea going vessel docked at a terminal on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam on Sunday, the Public Prosecutor said.
The customs officer decided to dive underneath the ship after the seaport police received a report that something suspicious was detected during the maintenance of the ship. The diving team removed several large sports bags from under the ship. "The state of the bags showed that they have been in the water for a long time", the Persecutor said.
Nov 7 '18 08:55
The Dutch police made a breakthrough in intercepting encrypted messages between criminals. They gained access to the server of chat app Ironchat and could read messages sent between criminals as they were sent, the police announced on Tuesday afternoon. Over a hundred suspects were identified and many arrests will follow, NU.nl reports.
Nov 5 '18 13:50
Every year around 16 billion euros is laundered in the Netherlands, 90 percent of which come from drug trafficking and fraud, researchers at Utrecht University found in a study commissioned by the the scientific research and documentation center WODC. Fraud is increasing and the under- and upper world are becoming increasingly intertwined, the researchers warned in Trouw.
Oct 24 '18 08:42
Former TV presenter Frank Masmeijer, suspected of trafficking cocaine through the port of Antwerp, was arrested in a hotel in Breda on Tuesday. According to Masmeijers' Dutch lawyer, Geert-Jan Knoops, Belgium recently issued an arrest warrant for his client in connection with the drug trafficking case, NU.nl reports.
Oct 23 '18 15:00
The police arrested two Amsterdam residents, aged 62 and 69 years, on suspicion of international drug trafficking on Tuesday morning. The two are suspected of a large number of drug transports to Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom, NU.nl reports.
Police officers also searched three homes, including one in Belgium.
Aug 22 '18 14:00
Four Dutch and a German were caught with 300 kilograms of cocaine on a yacht near Mallorca on Sunday. They were arrested by the Spanish authorities, NOS reports.
Aug 2 '18 12:50
A massive shipment fish that the Rotterdam police seized in a drug bust last month, is being donated to zoos and aquariums in the Netherlands, the Public Prosecutor announced. It involves thousands of kilograms of hake and cod that were used to hide 1,125 kilograms of cocaine from Ecuador.
Jul 10 '18 12:00
A 60-year-old truck driver from the Netherlands was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Great Britain for cocaine trafficking. He was caught smuggling 15 kilograms of the drug into the country early this year. According to the British Prosecutor, the drugs are worth around 1.5 million pounds, or about 1.7 million euros, RTL Nieuws reports.
The Dutch man was arrested at Harwich harbor on January 22nd, shortly after arriving there with his truck. He declared that he was carrying computer parts.
Jul 5 '18 13:40
Two Dutch men were caught trying to smuggle 15 kilograms of raw materials for crystal meth to the Spanish island of Ibiza. They were arrested. The Spanish police released a video of the drug bust.
Jun 14 '18 16:00
The Rotterdam investigative authorities are going to use cameras for extra surveillance at the port of Rotterdam. They hope that this will help in the fight against cocaine- and human trafficking. "In this way the net around the cocaine traffickers will be pulled tighter again", Bert Wiersema, director of enforcement policy at customs, said NU.nl reports.
The first new cameras were installed on the Maasvlakte following a successful test on Sluisjesdijk. Almost 200 more will be added in the coming years.
Jun 4 '18 11:40
Customs officers and container company employees at the port of Rotterdam are paid by criminals to help them traffic drugs into the Netherlands, NOS and RTV Rijnmond report based on conversations the police tapped and the broadcasters were allowed to hear.
The port workers sometimes receive millions of euros to cooperate with the criminals, according to the broadcasters. At least three customs officers were bribed in this way.
Pages
