Slightly more drugs were intercepted in the ports of Moerdijk, Vlissingen and Terneuzen last year than the year before. This concerns 12,664 kilos of drugs last year compared to 11,300 kilos in 2023. In the port of Rotterdam, considerably fewer drugs were intercepted: just under 26,000 kilos, compared to more than 45,000 kilos the year before.
The figures were announced on Thursday by the Hit And Run Cargo Team (HARC). This is a partnership between customs, FIOD, seaport police and the Public Prosecution Service.
HARC calls it ‘striking’ that the consignments of drugs that are intercepted are becoming smaller and smaller. In 2024, 115 consignments of less than one hundred kilos were found in the Netherlands, compared to 81 the year before. “Criminals may do more to spread risk,” speculates chief public prosecutor of Zeeland-West-Brabant Mariëtte Bode.
Cocaine in a telescopic crane
Large catches of a thousand kilos or more were still made. There were eight in total. A year earlier there were thirteen.
A shipment of more than 3,600 kilos was intercepted in both Rotterdam and Vlissingen. The largest shipment of drugs in the port of Moerdijk was 3,097 kilos. It was the largest catch in Brabant since 2018.
The Zeeland-West-Brabant seaport police found the cocaine in a telescopic crane on the port site at the end of June. The street value is estimated at 220 million euros.
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‘Drug trafficking moved to France and Spain’
A total of 38,000 kilos of drugs were intercepted in the Netherlands. That is considerably less than the almost sixty tons in 2023. There was also a significant decrease in the port of Antwerp last year.
Customs believe that part of the drug trade in the Benelux has moved to France and Spain. In France, the amount of drugs seized doubled last year. A shipment of 13,000 kilos of cocaine was intercepted in Spain.
