This was announced on Thursday by the Hit And Run Cargo team (HARC), a partnership of customs, FIOD, seaport police and the Public Prosecution Service. While over 45,506 kilos of drugs were still detected in 2023, that dropped to 25,900 kilos of drugs in the port of Rotterdam last year. The ports of Zeeland-West Brabant (Vlissingen, Moerdijk and Terneuzen) actually saw slightly more drugs intercepted in 2024: from 11,300 in 2023 to 12,664 kilos last year.

Cullers halved

In Rotterdam, the number of outliers also decreased: from 452 to 266 in 2024; in Vlissingen, there were 12 outliers, 8 of them in the month of January 2024. Notable is the number of smaller consignments of drugs (less than 100 kilos) in Rotterdam. According to HARC, drug criminals are increasingly 'spreading the risk'. Another brief mention was made of the Acropolis investigation that led to the arrest of the three board members of the Bulk Terminal Zeeland, a notorious drugs case in which the board is suspected of years of drug smuggling and forgery.

According to Peter van Buitenen, regional director of customs at the port of Rotterdam, the ports of Vlissingen and Rotterdam are difficult to compare. 'In Vlissingen, it's more about fruit lines, bulk and pallet loads, there are more employees involved and so the risks are higher. In Rotterdam, everything is highly automated and involves containers.'

Liquid dope

Van Buitenen is especially pleased to note that drug smugglers are increasingly adopting different methodologies. Whereas before it used to be large sports bags full of ready-made coke, the cocaine now increasingly processed into paste or smaller quantities that are hidden in ships' cooling engines. Getting the drugs out of those also requires more knowledge 'on the other side': here we are not talking about 'poor outliers', but refrigeration system mechanics. Van Buitenen is satisfied that 'the other side' has to look for other smuggling methods. At the same time, it makes detection more complicated. 'Sometimes the drug is harder to detect with a scan because it has been liquefied'.

In doing so, the seaport police see a shift in drug supply routes. 'We see it shifting more to ports in southern Europe, Spain and France, but also to Albania and Romania, where drugs are likely to enter via Turkey,' said Jan Janse, sector head of Seaport Police. That partly explained the drop in Rotterdam, but the ports of Antwerp and Hamburg also intercepted fewer drugs last year.

Circle of trust

Janse also says that the introduction of the Chain of Trust in the port of Rotterdam last year is clearly having an effect. 'PIN codes could easily be stolen. That is a thing of the past since the Chain of Trust which allows containers to be released only through a closed digital system.' In the process, the deployment of drones, (thermal) cameras, smart and secure fencing and increased deployment of the Seaport Police have led to fewer drug seizures in Rotterdam, according to HARC.

Source: NT