A man from Eindhoven was arrested last week after he tried to smuggle 600 kilos of Colombian cocaine into the Netherlands via the port of Antwerp. The cargo was intercepted by the Fortius Cocaine Streams Task Force, a specialized Belgian-Dutch team.
It is not yet known exactly what role the Eindhoven resident played in the drug transport and what awaits him. He is currently in custody and being questioned.
The same team managed to arrest four more Dutch people last weekend on suspicion of drug smuggling. They are said to have brought no less than 7900 kilos of cocaine from Ecuador to Antwerp. The drugs were found on October 20 in a container, hidden between bananas. According to the Gazet van Antwerpen, the coke had a value of more than 200 million euros.
Specialized team
Fortius is a partnership between the Antwerp Federal Judicial Police, the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, the National Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Netherlands and the National Police Unit. The team is specifically concerned with tackling the large-scale import of cocaine via the port of Antwerp to our country.
According to the police, the interception of the two drug shipments represents a ‘sensitive blow’ to organized crime. “Fortius has prevented these parties from entering the market.”