Rotterdam and the cocaine connection

Europe’s North Sea coast has overtaken the Iberian peninsula as the primary point of entry for cocaine reaching the continent. Industrial-sized labs have been busted in the Netherlands, and mafia-style executions have occurred on the streets. Most recently, crime journalist Peter R de Vries was shot and mortally wounded in busy Amsterdam. Linda Pressly asks how the Netherlands has become one of the largest illicit drug economies in the world.

Reporter: Linda Pressly
Producer: Michael Gallagher
Editor: Bridget Harney

Image: CCTV footage from the port of Rotterdam showing cocaine ‘collectors’ – young men charged with retrieving smuggled narcotics from shipping containers (Credit: Kramer Group)