Main content

Rotterdam and the cocaine connection

The Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands is being overrun by illicit drugs.

Europe’s North Sea coast has overtaken the Iberian peninsula as the primary point of entry for cocaine reaching the continent. Industrial-sized labs have been busted in the Netherlands, and mafia-style executions have occurred on the streets. Most recently, crime journalist Peter R de Vries was shot and mortally wounded in busy Amsterdam. Linda Pressly asks how the Netherlands has become one of the largest illicit drug economies in the world.

Reporter: Linda Pressly
Producer: Michael Gallagher
Editor: Bridget Harney

Image: CCTV footage from the port of Rotterdam showing cocaine β€˜collectors’ – young men charged with retrieving smuggled narcotics from shipping containers (Credit: Kramer Group)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Thu 25 Nov 2021 21:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 25 Nov 2021 02:32GMT
  • Thu 25 Nov 2021 09:06GMT
  • Thu 25 Nov 2021 13:32GMT
  • Thu 25 Nov 2021 20:06GMT
  • Thu 25 Nov 2021 21:06GMT

Download this programme

Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes