The attack on crime reporter Peter R. de Vries (64) in Amsterdam shows: Organized crime is on the rise in the Netherlands. Because it is highly likely that De Vries was attacked in connection with the trial of the Moroccan drug lord Ridouan Taghi (43).
In the Marengo trial, the reporter is the confidante of key witness Nabil B., whose brother was killed in 2018 and his lawyer in 2019.
Peter R. de Vries was struck down with several shots on Tuesday evening when he left the television studio after appearing on TV. The seriously injured reporter is still fighting for his life.
Chopped off head found
The Netherlands is developing more and more into a Medellín of Europe. Drug gangs fight for supremacy regardless of life. Compared to the ARD «Tagesschau» said an Amsterdam lawyer representing felons: “A severed head was found in front of a shisha bar and a lawyer was murdered. You knew that from Pablo Escobar from Colombia. “
Drug bosses would rule entire neighborhoods. A fat Mercedes, a chic watch, beautiful women and champagne were part of it. Murders as well. Especially in the capital Amsterdam, many people have been killed in recent years – not just the drug lords’ henchmen, but also innocent people, even children.
Cocaine under fruits
Organized crime is very present at the port off Rotterdam. 40,000 containers land here every day, only a fraction of which can be checked. Every year the criminals import an estimated 600 tons of cocaine via this port, which is often hidden under fruits.
The cocaine that reaches Rotterdam and the Belgian port city of Antwerp is worth at least 50 billion euros. This pays killers, but also middlemen at authorities and companies to unload the containers without being disturbed.
Containers are also used as infrastructure. A year ago, the police found seven containers belonging to the gangs in Rotterdam. One of them had been converted into a soundproof “treatment room” in which the gangsters tortured their opponents on a dentist’s chair.
Hundreds of laboratories excavated
But the drug gangs are also active in the interior of the country. Hundreds of drug laboratories have been uncovered in the past few years. The largest was found in the converted horse farm in the village of Nijeveen in the north-east of the country.
In the gigantic cocaine laboratory, the police seized 100 kilos of drugs and tens of thousands of liters of chemicals. 17 people were arrested, 13 of them from Colombia. They processed up to 200 kilos of cocaine here every day.
A similar find a few days ago: a drug warehouse was discovered by South Americans on a farm in De Kwakel south of Amsterdam. The police found almost three tons of cocaine, 11 million euros, weapons and luxury goods such as vintage cars and expensive wines. Posters of the Hollywood classic “The Godfather” hung on the walls.
A drug state
The many murders and attacks are evidence of the spread of organized crime. Jan Struijs, President of the Nederlandse Politiebond, the police union with 27,000 members, said: “This is a confirmation that we are living in a drug state.”
His organization sees failure in politics. The Nederlandse Politiebond writes: «Ministers who look the other way, police chiefs who put problems aside, and superiors who are silent. In the National Information Office, the part of the national police that deals with serious, organized crime and terrorism, things have been going wrong for years. “
Big blow
After all: In the “Trojan Shield” operation against organized crime, under the aegis of the FBI and Europol, over 800 suspects were arrested worldwide by June, 49 of them in the Netherlands. The investigators had prepared, allegedly encrypted cell phones that could be bugged the criminals.
“Trojan Shield” was a big blow against the drug mafia, but in the end it was no more than a drop in the bucket.