FIOD

Authorities working at the Port of Rotterdam found dozens of kilograms of cocaine hidden among a banana shipment. In total, some 186 kilos of cocaine was found inside the sea container, prosecution service OM said in a statement.

The value of the Tuesday seizure was estimated at between four and six million euros, according to local broadcaster RTV Rijnmond.

The container originated in Colombia, and was first set for Antwerp, Belgium before it continued to Rotterdam, its final destination. “The drugs have since been destroyed,” the OM stated.

Banning cash payments of over 3 thousand euros, regulating cryptocurrencies, and calling for the 500 euros banknote to be taken out of circulations are two of a large package of measures against money laundering that Ministers Wopke Hoekstra of Finance and Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security sent to parliament on Monday.

On Monday customs officers found a "large batch" of cocaine at the office building of a Rotterdam fruit company on Keilestraat, the Public Prosecutor said in a statement.

The drugs were hidden in a banana shipment from Ecuador, according to the Prosecutor. In a number of pallets full of banana boxes, the fruit was replaced by packages of cocaine. The drugs were confiscated and destroyed.

Customs, the Tax Authority's investigative department FIOD, the seaport police and the Public Prosecutor are investigating. As far as is known, no arrests were made. 

Customs officers in the Netherlands found 70 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside the hold of a ship in Amsterdam harbor. The street value of the seized cocaine is €1.7 million, according to financial crimes investigation service FIOD.

So far, nobody was arrested in connection with the raid. The cargo ship arrived in the Netherlands from Brazil, and was carrying grain.

The packages of cocaine were found on December 16, but authorities only first revealed the bust on Monday. The drugs were later destroyed.

Customs officers found hundreds of kilograms of hard drugs during a check at a storage company in Hazerswoude Dorp, Zuid-Holland on Tuesday. The drugs were hidden in a shipment of Christmas decorations, FIOD, the Tax Authority's investigative department, said on Thursday.

The decorations and drugs were set to be shipped to England. The drugs were seized and destroyed. FIOD and the police are investigating.

A FIOD spokesperson could not tell NOS what type of drugs were involved. 

The Public Prosecutor reached a settlement of 775 million euros with ING. The bank allowed customers to abuse their accounts for the laundering of hundreds of millions of euros between 2010 and 2016, NOS reports.

The amount of the settlement consists of a 675 million euros fine and a reimbursement of 100 million euros. According to the Public Prosecutor, ING did not properly fulfill its role as gatekeeper of the financial system and was negligent in preventing money laundering.

Two brothers from Utrecht and a woman from Alphen aan den Rijn were arrested on for financing terrorism. They sent money to three men suspected of joining terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq. The three jihadists are the brothers of the two Utrecht men, and the woman used to date one of them, NOS reports.

On Tuesday the police busted a drug network in Brunssum, Limburg. Four men were arrested for trading drugs on the dark web, and sending drugs all across the world through the regular postal service, the Public Prosecutor announced on Friday. 

This investigation was launched after PostNL found drugs in packages during a drug check. According to the Prosecutor, the suspects had clients all over the world and sent drugs, mostly ecstasy, to their clients in normal postal packages and envelopes.

Two men from Deventer has been in custody since March 26th on suspicion of financing terrorism in Syria, the Public Prosecutor announced on Tuesday.

The suspects, aged 28 and 36 years, surfaced during an international investigation into terrorism financing. Between 2015 and their arrest, they paid money to jihadists fighting in Syria through exchange offices in Turkey, according to the prosecutor. They did so on behalf of the Dutch jihadists' friends and family. The Prosecutor did not say how much money was involved. 

The Tax Authority's investigative department FIOD arrested six men on Tuesday in a fraud investigation. The men, aged 20 to 39 years, are suspected of posing as tax employees and scamming millions of euros from Dutch entrepreneurs. The police and FIOD received over 170 reports from victims. In total the criminal gang stole over 2.2 million euros, NU.nl reports.

The police also raided five homes in Arnhem and seized administration, cash, bank cards, a Mercedes and the pin numbers of 'money mules' - people whose bank accounts were abused for criminal purposes. 

Investment management firm Finles in Utrecht is suspected of tax fraud, according to a report published in the Telegraaf. During the alleged dodging of 45 million euros in dividend tax, former CDA Foreign Minister Ben Bot was the chairman of the supervisory board.