Dutch cocaine trafficking marked by increasingly violent violence – Army in charge of drug giant trial

In July 2020, Dutch police found containers to be used in the province of North Braband as torture cells (you switch to another service). The containers were so well soundproofed that not even a loud shout would fall out of them.

The containers contained equipment suitable for torture, such as scalpels, a dental chair, and straps to tie the victims. The Dutch cocaine smugglers had planned to imprison members of the underworld who owed them.

The case is one of many examples of cocaine gang violence that has shocked the Netherlands.

The threshold for criminal organizations to use lethal violence has been lowered over the past decade, and more murders have been committed. The summary shootings have claimed several bystanders. In addition, bystanders have become targets of retaliation by criminal gangs.

This is stated in a study published this year by a research institute under the Dutch Ministry of Justice in the report (switch to another service). According to the report, the growth of cocaine trafficking is the main driver of violence.

Attempts are being made to address cocaine gang violence in the huge Marengo legal process that has been going on for several years. In it, a total of 17 members of the cocaine gang are charged with six underworld murders and several attempted murders.

The leader of the gang is considered to have run the cocaine trade Ridouan Taghia. He is suspected of retaliatory murders committed by other defendants.

What makes the Marengo process exceptional is that three people close to the main witness were murdered during the process.

In March 2018, the main witness Nabil B: n the brother was shot to death. Just a week earlier, the prosecutor had told report that Nabil B, who had been caught in the assassination attempt, would become the main witness against Tagh. The murdered brother had no connection to the underworld.

In September 2019, a lawyer for Nabil B. Derk Wiersum shot.

In July last year, Nabil B’s shop steward was assassinated Peter R. de Vries, who was an extremely well – known and respected criminal journalist in the Netherlands. The tragedy was also widely reported in Finland.

Because of the murders, the Marengo process is overshadowed by a Dutch criminal reporter Wouter Laumansin according to the atmosphere of fear.

– There is no point of comparison in the history of the Netherlands for this case, Laumans, who closely followed the Marengo process, told in a telephone interview. According to him, similar cases have occurred in Europe, mainly in Italy.

In 2020, a record 40,000 kilograms of cocaine were seized in the port of Rotterdam despite the corona pandemic. In 2021, seizures increased to 70,000 pounds. The value of cocaine seized in the street trade would have been approx EUR 5 billion (switching to another service).

In the Netherlands, the price of a gram of cocaine has remained close to 50 euros for years. It says Laumans says record-high seizures have not curbed cocaine flows.

Only a fraction of the cocaine that passes through Rotterdam remains in the Netherlands. Most continue their journey to the growing European cocaine market, such as Finland.

The popularity of Rotterdam among cocaine smugglers is also explained by logistics. The port is the largest in Europe, which makes it extremely difficult to control smuggling. In addition, connections to the rest of Europe are excellent.

The port of Rotterdam has been struggling with large-scale corruption for years. Last year, Regional Director of the Dutch Seaport Police Jan Janse said NRC Handelsblad in an interview (you move to another service)that cocaine smugglers have infiltrated the port of Rotterdam.

Tackling corruption is difficult, as a total of up to 180,000 people have access to the port area of ​​Rotterdam. Each of them is a potential donor to criminal organizations.

Many employees end up collaborating with criminal organizations because of easy money but also blackmail. This is what the prosecutor, who is fighting against cocaine trafficking, says Nicolle Coenen Journal published by the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office in an interview (you move to another service).

For example, dock workers have been escorted home and to hobbies and to their children’s schools. Employees who have already agreed to cooperate have faced particular pressure.

Without assistants, it would be nearly impossible for criminal organizations to find containers that transport cocaine, as several million containers pass through the port each year.

In addition, criminal gangs have hired outside assistants to transfer cocaine consignments to other containers to avoid inspections. Movement in the port area is difficult to control because the area is so huge.

The structural challenge of supervision is still enormous. While cocaine seizures in the port of Rotterdam have increased tenfold since 2014, the co-operation body between customs, the prosecutor’s office, the money laundering authority and the port police for controlling drug trafficking has stayed for 18 people (you will switch to another service).

It’s a kind of cat-and-mouse game where the authorities are constantly one step behind the smugglers.

Prosecutions for the Marengo trial are due to be announced tomorrow, Tuesday. The prosecutor is likely to demand life imprisonment for Tagh and some of the other defendants. Final verdicts are not expected until next year.

Although Taghi is also believed to have committed the murders of a close witness to the main witness, there is no case against him prosecuted (you switch to another service). The reason is that there is not enough evidence and in the Netherlands a life sentence can only be sentenced once. Unlike in Finland, in the Netherlands it is not possible to get rid of life expectancy in principle.

Laumans hopes the sentences likely to be handed down in the Marengo process will curb gang violence. However, convictions do not stop the violent cocaine trade.

As long as the demand and price of cocaine are high, its smuggling and sale will appear to criminals as an overwhelmingly fast and attractive way to get rich.