The HARC team Rotterdam, a cooperation between police, customs, FIOD and the Public Prosecutor, started a massive drug action in the Port of Rotterdam on Thursday 15 December. Various incidents which took place last week are the cause for the massive search operation. At least one hundred containers with fruit were searched, according to RTV Rijnmond. Men had been caught at the industrial estates of the port multiple times. A number of them were carrying burglary tools, giving rise to the suspicion that the men concerned were up to no good. During these arrests, drugs were also found.
On Thursday 15 December, police arrested two men after a chase in the harbour area. Because the suspects did not follow the police officers’s instructions, the officers fired a warning shot. The suspects have been brought before the examining magistrate and will be held in custody for 14 days.
The incidents caused the HARC team to start additional inspections. For example, an additional 50 containers were inspected on Thursday. On Friday, customs officers found a van filled with hundreds of kilograms of cocaine. The three occupants of the van, Two Albanian men of 20 and 35 years old, and a 39-year-old man from Schiedam, have been arrested. The batch of drugs found turned out to be from a South American container. The arrested suspects will be brought before the examining magistrate on Monday. The cocaine found was destroyed.