Dutch seize 4,600 kilograms of cocaine in Rotterdam
05/09/2005 - 13:25:31Dutch customs has seized 4,600 kilograms of cocaine hidden in shipping containers in the Port of Rotterdam, prosecutors said in a statement today.
It was the largest bust in Dutch history in terms of value, with an estimated street value of €220m.
The seizure was made on August 3, but only reported after 11 men and two women were arrested this weekend in the Netherlands. Police in Spain and Belgium made additional arrests, the statement said.
The suspects were from the Netherlands, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Greece and the United States. One suspect, a 45-year-old Colombian man, died after falling from an Amsterdam apartment while trying to escape, prosecutors said.
The drugs are believed to have come from Venezuela and were bound for Iraq via Belgium.
