According to the court in The Hague, the suspects had no jurisdiction on the site of a container terminal, but why exactly they were there has remained unclear in the eyes of the court. In criminal investigations into criminal organizations involved in drug importation via the port of Rotterdam, these intruders are often called eavesdroppers. This mainly concerns young people who walk around or have themselves enclosed in the port area to remove drugs from containers.
New Approach
Since 1 January this year, a new so-called eviscerator law has come into effect, which makes it possible to tackle eviscerators, even in cases where there is no direct link with drugs. However, this new article does not apply to cases before 1 January 2022, as is the case with these six suspects.
The suspects were found in or around containers in the Rotterdam port area with sleeping bags, food, telephones, power banks, wire cutters, gloves and tape. “It is clear that the facts and circumstances under which the suspects were arrested in the container port indicate criminal intent on the part of the suspects,” the court said. But in all these cases, according to the Court of Appeal, there were always insufficient leads to link the suspects with “deliberately taking preparatory acts with regard to narcotics”.