Investigation services intercepted more than 5 billion euros worth of cocaine in the port of Rotterdam in the past year. That reports the Public Prosecution Service on Monday morning. The Hit and Run Cargo team (HARC), a collaboration between the customs authorities, FIOD, the Seaport Police and the Public Prosecution Service, recorded a drug catch of a total of 70,571 kilos of coke in various loads. The team also provided assistance to other investigative services in the discovery of 2,156 kilos of cocaine elsewhere in the country. The amount of coke found has almost doubled compared to 2020, when the Public Prosecution Service reported a total drug seizure of more than 40,000 kilos.
Based on the drugs found, the HARC team launched an investigation 194 times. This led to 62 arrests. The biggest find was made last December, when customs officers found 4,180 kilograms of cocaine in a container loaded with bananas. In all of 2021, a total of 22 consignments were intercepted with more than a thousand kilos of coke.
In addition, the investigative services arrested a record number of extractors last year, people who collect the smuggled cocaine in the port of Rotterdam for further distribution. In all of 2021, 198 people were arrested while on the docks with or without cocaine, an increase of 42 percent. Some were arrested several times.
Collectors often got off with a fine of 95 euros, because there was insufficient evidence that they were actually involved in drug smuggling. In that case, the Public Prosecution Service could only fine the suspects for unauthorized presence in a prohibited area. Due to a new evisceration law, which came into effect on January 1 of this year, the judge can impose higher penalties for this. These can be up to two years in prison.
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