News item | 26-01-2023 | 4:00 pm
In 2022, customs seized nearly 27,000 drugs in outgoing mail. That is considerably more than the 15,500 times that customs intercepted drugs in the post in 2021. The majority of the seizures consist of XTC/MDMA that is smuggled from the Netherlands to countries such as the United States and Australia. This is evident from the 2022 drug figures that Customs announced today.
The increase in the number of seizures may be due to increased customs controls on drugs in the post. In addition, the fact that the number of dance parties worldwide may have increased again in 2022 after the corona year 2021 may also play a role. Smuggling in parcel post, on the other hand, is decreasing slightly. Customs found a total of more than 116 kilos of XTC/MDMA in packages in 2022, compared to 172 kilos in 2021. Sending drugs by letter can be more anonymous than by parcel. That is why smugglers may opt more often for letter mail. In addition to Ecstasy, customs are also increasingly finding LSD in the mail. The number of LSD seizures has almost doubled, from over 1,600 to almost 3,200 times.
“By intercepting drugs, Customs makes an important contribution to tackling undermining crime,” said Aukje de Vries, State Secretary for Supplements and Customs. “Criminal drug traffickers are becoming increasingly ruthless and the consequences of this are increasingly being felt in society. With every gram we seize, criminals are affected in their income and society becomes a bit safer.”
In 2022, customs intercepted drugs a total of 29,808 times. All together it was 64,383 kilos. In terms of volume, cocaine makes up the bulk of the seizures. Although the number of cocaine seizures was almost the same as in 2021 at more than 160, the number of kilos fell to more than 51,447 kilos of cocaine. In 2021 it was 71,796 kilos. Customs has noted an increase in the number of kilos seized for all other types of drugs. For example, customs seized 2,611 kilos of heroin, compared to 1,734 kilos a year earlier. The number of kilograms of marijuana seized increased from 734 in 2021 to 5,492 in 2022. Most of the drugs were intercepted in the port of Rotterdam and at Schiphol Airport last year. Customs also intercepted drugs in the other seaports and airports in 2022.
The 2022 drug figures also show that much more cocaine destined for the Netherlands was seized abroad last year than in 2021. In total, South American customs and police services seized nearly 110 tons of cocaine destined for the Netherlands in 2022 . In 2021 it was still 41 tons. Dutch Customs is increasingly collaborating with other countries. For example, scan images will be exchanged with Brazil and Belgium, and liaisons will be set up in South American countries.
Customs sees that cocaine is mainly smuggled with so-called rip off. This means that the cocaine is not processed in the cargo, but is added to a legal cargo in a container, for example. Then smugglers, for example, put a sports bag with cocaine in the load, instead of incorporating the drugs into the product or the packaging materials. This development is observed by Customs in both shiploads and airfreight.
Figures seized drugs in kilograms and numbers of findings (2018 – 2022)
2022 kg | Number | 2021 kg | Number | 2020 kg | Number | 2019 kg | Number | 2018 kg | Number | |
Cocaine – of which maritime | 51,447 50,044 | 3,965 162 | 71,796 69,479 | 3,586 166 | 48,891 47,711 | 1,426 140 | 40,095 38,406 | 1.109 127 | 21,188 20,074 | 1,251 99 |
Heroin | 2,611 | 2,369 | 1,734 | 2.128 | 105 | 88 | 625 | 25 | 296 | 110 |
Ecstasy/MDMA | 363 | 7,000 | 259 | 4,755 | 519 | 2,284 | 426 | 489 | 472 | 344 |
Amphetamine | 32 | 1,385 | 19 | 671 | 34 | 248 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 5 |
Methamphetamine* | 82 | 55 | 20 | 97 | 17 | 75 | 550 | 11 | 6 | 15 |
Marijuana | 5,492 | 4,381 | 734 | 2,439 | 514 | 393 | 583 | 231 | 322 | 125 |
Hashish | 293 | 1,161 | 172 | 123 | 1,010 | 106 | 299 | 101 | 3,910 | 93 |
Qat | 3,265 | 56 | 2,887 | 258 | 9,137 | 629 | 2,080 | 108 | 3,331 | 177 |
LSD** | 6 | 3,181 | 4 | 1,613 | 1 | 353 | – | – | – | – |
* Including crystal meth
** Due to the increase in LSD findings, this substance is also included in the table. Complete figures are not available for 2018-2019.
Note:
- The table above lists the most common drugs seized. Less common drugs are not included in the table, but are included in the monitoring. New psychoactive substances (NPS) and substances that fall under the Medicines Act, such as ketamine, also fall outside the scope of the table.
- Only since 2020 has the result of interceptions in letter mail been part of the reports. Numbers of seizures are therefore not directly comparable with previous years, which is why the numbers before 2020 are not included in the table.