Large cocaine delivery from Turkey seized in Rotterdam

Over 1.1 ton of cocaine delivered from Turkey to the Netherlands was seized in the port of Rotterdam, Dutch media reported, citing the prosecution.

During the customs checks at the port on Tuesday, a large amount of cocaine was seized in a container that was reported to have come from Turkey. The prosecutor's office announced that the cocaine was hidden between car tires.

The estimated street value of the seized cocaine is 84.3 million euros.

The cocaine was stored in 23 packages in a total of 19 sports bags, and was sent to an address in Hellevoetsluis.

The prosecution suspects that the drug may be a "switch party," meaning that the drug cargo was removed from a container and placed in another to avoid control.

According to a 2023 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Turkey's role as a transit country for cocaine has been growing, and the amount of drugs seized in the country has increased seven fold since 2014.