Smugglers are increasingly using legally grown cannabis from Canada to supply Europe, with seizures in Rotterdam’s port rising sharply this year, the NRC reported on Thursday.

Rotterdam customs officials have intercepted more than 53,000 kilos of cannabis from Canada so far this year – over five times more than the previous year and 50 times more than in 2023, the paper said.

The first major discovery came last July, when over 1,300 kilos were found hidden in two containers from Canada with machinery for a company in Breda. Since then, Dutch customs, police and prosecutors say the so-called “Canadian route” has become a clear trend.

Similar increases in seizures have been reported in Antwerp, where nearly 20,000 kilos of cannabis have been seized this year, compared with just 336 kilos in 2023.

Insiders told the NRC the smuggling route has existed for nearly a decade and began with Dutch traffickers hiding cannabis among wooden garden sheds. The trade has expanded rapidly since Canada legalised recreational cannabis in 2018, leading to large-scale production and chronic oversupply.

Canada’s legal cannabis industry, now worth about €3 billion a year, produces hundreds of tonnes more than it can sell domestically. Exports are banned, and surplus stock must be destroyed — a rule Dutch investigators say is not always followed.

With Canadian cannabis costing around €600 to €800 per kilo but selling for up to €2,800 in the Netherlands — and as much as €5,000 in the UK or Scandinavia — the profits are comparable to cocaine smuggling, but with far lighter penalties, the paper said.

Police say the focus on tackling violent cocaine networks has made cannabis trafficking less risky and more attractive.

One underworld source told NRC earlier this year that “drug criminals are diversifying — spreading their risks and making easy money with Canadian weed.”