Thus the port of Rotterdam turned into an impenetrable fortress against coke smuggling
Criminals adrift in search of new methods
ROTTERDAM - The port of Rotterdam, for years a hotbed of international drug smuggling, has turned into an almost impregnable fortress over the past year. It is increasingly difficult for criminals to get large consignments of cocaine into the Netherlands via ships.

In 2024, 25,900 kilos of cocaine were found in the port of Rotterdam and 266 outliers were caught. This is a significant drop compared to previous years, when around 45,000 kilos were intercepted and 452 people arrested trying to extract coke from containers. Besides the 'white gold', customs also found unusual consignments, such as a container full of cannabis from Canada and 3,000 kilos of crystal meth packed in big bags with sand.
PIN fraud emasculated
New measures and intensive cooperation between police, customs and port authorities have made life considerably harder for drug gangs, corrupt employees and drivers. The once simple system eagerly used by criminal networks has been completely dismantled: so-called PIN fraud.
Until last year, after paying for shipping, shipping companies were given a unique code to pick up a container. This system proved vulnerable: criminals obtained the cipher for the container of drugs and engaged corrupt truck drivers.
"We have put an end to that," says Jan Janse, chief of the Rotterdam Seaport Police, bluntly. "Transport companies must now report in advance which truck and driver is coming to pick up a specific container. This rules out room for improvisation by criminals."
Rotterdam port substantially safer
The smuggling method known as the Trojan Horse, in which drivers secretly smuggled out dealers in empty containers onto the premises, has also been quashed. Janse explains: "We combine targeted checks on carriers with data analysis. This way, we detect suspicious patterns and can revoke so-called cargo passes."
"I dare to draw the conclusion that these measures, which we call the chain of trust, have made the port substantially safer, especially the terminals at the Maasvlakte," says Janse.
Tightened controls, drones deployed by customs at the port and international cooperation are not only affecting drug smuggling, but also the people who are deployed to get the drugs out of the containers: the outliers.
Their numbers have decreased drastically. "Most of the outliers were caught in the first months of 2024," says Janse.
Drug traffickers use minors
Yet one development remains worrying: the increasing number of minors being used as recruiters. "These youngsters are often pressurised by older criminals. They are threatened and exploited. After their arrest, they often say they want to get out. They are used as a kind of child soldiers."
According to Janse, the prosecution has now charged adult outliers with recruiting and exploiting minors.
Criminals seek new methods for drug smuggling
Meanwhile, criminals continue to search adrift for new smuggling methods. According to Peter van Buijtenen, regional director of customs Rotterdam, small consignments of cocaine are more often hidden in refrigerated containers, where up to seventy kilos can be hidden. Another method is hiding contraband in bottom flaps of banana boxes or coke paste smeared between them. In addition, customs officials see an emergence of 'washing in' cocaine in products such as packaging materials, clothing and even coal. "This method is difficult to detect. The drug dogs do not smell it well and besides, it is dissolved in syrup, for example," says Van Buijtenen.
Another method, Janse explains, is to throw cocaine overboard with sounding beacons. However, this does not always go according to plan: strong winds and currents sometimes lead to batches washed up on the beach.
Ports in the Netherlands seem to have fallen out of favour for smuggling large consignments of drugs. "We see other smuggling routes being used," says Janse. Ships from Latin America increasingly go via West Africa or Spain, or the transport goes overland from via Turkey to Eastern Europe, where there is a much bigger market.
"The gangs that once used the Netherlands as a distribution country now operate elsewhere in the world. In the Netherlands, the sales market is relatively small compared to other countries: around 10,000 kilos of cocaine are used here every year," says Janse. "Moreover, the trade is increasingly digitised. Criminals work together from places like Turkey and, now to a lesser extent, Dubai."
Labs to cover up drug shortage
Yet there are striking developments, which Janse cannot quite put his finger on. According to criminal sources, the kilogram price of coke in our country is relatively low, around 18,000 euros, while, according to Janse, there are also stories circulating about a shortage of drugs. "We see more so-called 'procain labs', where drugs are adulterated to create more volume with less cocaine, for example to disguise a drug shortage. At the same time, the purity of cocaine among users remains high."
Unrest in South America may be playing a role. "In Mexico, drug gangs are literally shooting the light out of each other's eyes. Power relationships shift and routes change. Those who lose or don't have the right contacts find it difficult to get drugs."
Although the Netherlands seems to be shaking off its image as a cocaine distribution country, vigilance remains necessary. "We are under no illusion that we can sit back, because criminals will find another method," Van Buijtenen argues. He says this means continuing to invest in measures such as smarter cameras with heat sensors and permanent drone surveillance in the port.
Source: Telegraph