Police arrest five on suspicion of IJmuiden cocaine smuggling
Police and the FIOD arrested five men at the IJmuiden port on the night of 24 to 25 October on suspicion of drug smuggling, the Public Prosecution Service said. All five remain in custody.
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Illustrative photo: AgainErick / CC BY-SA 4.0
Police and the FIOD arrested five men in the port area of IJmuiden on suspicion of drug smuggling. According to the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie), they were about to remove cocaine from below the waterline of a ship.
Officers on a targeted patrol spotted a van parked close to the berth of a ship that had arrived from Colombia the day before. In the back, a 36-year-old Colombian man was changing into a diving suit. Diving equipment lay ready to go into the water.
The diver was arrested on the spot, together with the van's 36-year-old driver from Badhoevedorp and the 35-year-old passenger from the municipality of Castricum.
Later that night, investigators arrested two more Colombians, aged 47 and 59. The prosecution service suspects them of directing and coordinating the smuggling operation.
All five suspects have appeared before the judge (rechter-commissaris), who ruled that they must stay in custody for now.
The operation brought together staff from the police units of Noord-Holland and Amsterdam, customs and the FIOD. The prosecution service in Noord-Holland leads the investigation, which the HARC team Noordzeekanaalgebied carries out. The team is a partnership of police, customs and the FIOD.
Source: Openbaar Ministerie
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FIOD (Fiscale Inlichtingen- en Opsporingsdienst)
The Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service is the criminal investigation unit of the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration. It investigates tax fraud, money laundering and other financial crime, and it often works alongside the police and the Public Prosecution Service on cases such as drug trafficking where money or goods are moved illegally. Its officers carry out arrests and searches under the direction of the prosecutor.
HARC team Noordzeekanaalgebied
This is a joint investigation team in the Noordzeekanaal area, which covers the ports of IJmuiden and Amsterdam. It brings together police, customs (Douane) and the FIOD, so that crime in the port, such as drug smuggling by sea, can be investigated by one combined team. The investigations are led by the prosecution service in Noord-Holland.