Drugs gangs adapting as customs faces cuts, chief tells MPs

The Dutch customs service will have to endure substantial budget cuts because it is not formally counted as part of the country’s security system, its director general has told MPs, warning of the impact cutbacks could have as criminal gangs step up pressure on the country’s ports.

Customs chief Nanette van Schelven told parliament in a position paper on Wednesday that the agency will be hit by cuts planned for government departments. It will also miss out on the extra money the cabinet has made available to strengthen the national security sector.

The agency’s role in tackling organised crime “requires continuation and intensification”, Van Schelven wrote. Customs is looking for smarter ways of working, she said, “but efficiency alone will not resolve this tension.”

Customs, which comes under the finance ministry, has a budget of almost €982 million for 2027.

New smuggling methods
Customs officers seized 19,332 kilos of cocaine in the first half of this year, up 20% on the 16,104 kilos seized in the same period of 2025, according to the paper and figures provided by customs. That is already close to last year’s total of almost 24,500 kilos.

The paper also cited more than 106 million illegal cigarettes seized in the first half of the year.

Gangs adapt quickly, Van Schelven wrote, and customs has to anticipate trends rather than rely on seizures alone. She named dropping drugs at sea for collection, soaking cocaine into other materials, chemically disguising it, and smuggling via private aircraft.

The risk of drop-offs means smaller Dutch ports need to stay alert, the paper said.

Pressure on staff
Van Schelven’s “first concern” was criminal networks’ growing willingness to use violence and the pressure they put on the organisation and individual officers.

Arrests of customs staff for corruption show how concrete that threat is, she wrote.
Measures like periodic screening take a long time to introduce, and customs needs proper resources to protect its people, the paper said.

The hearing was held by parliament’s justice committee to discuss the government’s first national threat assessment of how organised crime undermines Dutch society. MPs will debate organised crime with justice minister David van Weel later this month.