Customs in the port of Rotterdam has again made a significant seizure of coke destined for Moerdijk. This time it involved five hundred kilos of cocaine in a shipment of mangoes. At the beginning of January, 4,830 kilos of cocaine were intercepted, also destined for Moerdijk. This does not seem to put an end to the drug wave in the hinterland of the world’s ports.
The discovery was made on Sunday during an inspection. A refrigerated container with mangoes had been shipped from Peru, via Panama, to the port of Rotterdam. When customs examined the container, they found fourteen bales. It contained a total of 463 packages with drugs.
The waybills stated that the mangoes first had to go to a company in Moerdijk and then to the final destination in Germany. “The companies from Moerdijk and Germany appear to have nothing to do with the smuggling,” customs and the Public Prosecution Service report in a press release.
The HARC team, a thirty-year-old partnership between customs, FIOD, Seaport Police and the Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam, is further investigating the case.
The drugs have been destroyed.
Violence
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) prominently shares a photo showing the blocks of coke. There are clear logos on those blocks: Corona beer, 007 Don Julio and a ghost. These are logos for the customers. This way, the distributors – the extractors – can easily select and sort for customers.
Normally such evidence is only shared later in court, but this detailed publication is done deliberately. The aim is to make it clear to crime networks and investors who found the drugs.
This must prevent misunderstandings from arising in the underworld. Otherwise, the smugglers may mistakenly think that a competing gang has stolen the drugs. This sharing of concrete information and photos can prevent it from turning into violence.
A street value is not mentioned in the Public Prosecution Service’s press release. But based on the trade value (what criminals charge among themselves) of roughly 15,000 euros per kilo, the street value in the Netherlands would be at least 25 million and outside our country it would be much higher.
Mega catches
Almost a month ago, one of the largest cocaine seizures ever made in our country. In the port of Rotterdam, customs found 4,830 kilos of coke hidden in electric magnets. That stuff also had to go to a company in Moerdijk.
In the last year and a half, the number of catches seems to be increasing again, especially in West Brabant. It started to ‘peak’ in the summer of 2024 with a crane that was transported to Moerdijk from Latin America. It contained three thousand kilos of coke.
Record year
In 2025, huge quantities appeared in Ulvenhout (3300 kilos) and Standdaarbuiten (3300 kilos). There was also a load with Klundert as a stopover (2950 kilos). With a series of smaller finds, 2025 was one of the record years.
West Brabant plays a leading role in this story. This has been the case since the 1980s. The region, with all its warehouses and transport options, is close to the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam, but also Vlissingen. The parties that are found are growing, especially since 2016.
What is striking is that catches in the major ports have decreased in recent years. The records for those ports are a few years behind us. It is suspected that the necessary drugs are now arriving in other ways or in other countries. And through other methods, such as washed into cardboard and textiles.
