The president of the Dutch police union has claimed that the Netherlands is now a “narco-state,” where drug dealing criminals operating on the black market rival the mainstream Dutch economy.
“I call the Netherlands a narco-state 2.0 because drugs pump so much money into the legal economy that it takes over,” said Jan Struijs, speaking to Swedish broadcaster SVT.
“It undermines democracy but also the economy.”
In recent years, Dutch drug gangs are believed to have threatened and killed journalists and lawyers as a show of force, including veteran crime journalist Peter R. de Vries, who was shot in the head at point blank range in the streets of Amsterdam last year.
#BREAKING Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, 64, dies after shooting: Dutch media pic.twitter.com/xTjVklD1Es
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 15, 2021
The 64-year-old journalist was known for investigating organised crime, and in 2019 found that he was on a hit list of one of the country’s most wanted criminals.
Before that, in 2019, lawyer Derk Wiersum was also shot dead in Amsterdam.
Killing of crown witness's lawyer Derk Wiersum shocks Amsterdam https://t.co/I2IobizjaX pic.twitter.com/K3lkxT9r4H
— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) September 18, 2019
At the time Wiersum was the lawyer of a star witness in a major drugs case involving a suspected Moroccan “Morco” drug group. Head of the Dutch police union, Jan Struijs, believed at the time that the shooting was related to groups involved in illegal narcotics.
Between 2016 and 2021, as many as 20 people are believed to have been murdered in the Netherlands in connection to these “Morco” activities. Notably, in one gang-related incident, the burned beheaded remains of a 23-year-old man were found in Amsterdam, and a day later, on the other side of the city, the man’s severed head turned up in a bag on the side of the street. It was discovered by a random passerby who promptly called the police.
Severed head found outside Amsterdam cafe linked to drugs gang war https://t.co/FVvysagQYa
— Guardian news (@guardiannews) March 9, 2016
SVT claims that the Dutch illegal drug market has grown so large, it has begun to have an influence on many areas of the Netherlands, including house prices. Reportedly, even many legal Dutch businesses have been taken over by drug cartels.
Ireland imports significant volumes of illegal drugs from the Netherlands, particularly ecstasy.
Just last November, a €9.8 million drugs haul was seized at Dublin Port, having been smuggled from the Netherlands. Contraband included 60kg of cocaine, 22kg of heroin, 79kg of cannabis herb, 145kg of cannabis resin, and 1kg of ketamine.
Earlier the same year, a staggering €35 million worth of cocaine disguised as charcoal was seized by Gardaí and the Irish Navy as it was being transported from Rotterdam to Dublin.