Rotterdam port hard drug seizures fell in 2014

cassava cocainePolice and customs officials seized some 9,000 kilos of hard drugs in Rotterdam port last year, most of which was cocaine, the public prosecution department said on Monday.

In 2013, officials found 10,000 kilos of hard drugs. Cocaine accounted for 7,575 kilos of the 2014 haul.

Smugglers have been increasingly hiding drugs in regular shipments in an effort to avoid the authorities although there was a drop in the use of this method last year. This may be to do with an increase in the number of container searchers, the public prosecutor said.

Last year’s biggest haul was made in November when officials found 3,000 kilos of cocaine hidden in a shipment of fruit from Costa Rica. This was the second biggest seizure ever made at the port.

Police, customs inspectors and public prosecution department officials work together in a special team known as Hit and Run Cargo team, or HARC, to combat drugs smuggling through Rotterdam.

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