Cocaine seizures at the Port of Rotterdam skyrocket, already surpassing 2018 figures

Even with nearly two months left to go in the year, authorities at the Port of Rotterdam this year have already surpassed the record amount of cocaine caught there in 2018, according to an investigation by De Telegraaf. Some 23 thousand kilograms of cocaine was intercepted at the largest port in Europe, a 28 percent increase over the 18 thousand kilograms captured during all of last year.

The Rotterdam office of the Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed this year’s drug trafficking spike, the newspaper said. More batches of the drug were seized en route to Rotterdam, like at ports in Belgium, the Telegraaf said. Rotterdam’s mayor was pushing for even closer cooperation by staffing Dutch investigators to work alongside officials in Central and South America.