23 Kilos of Cocaine found in St. Maarten leads investigators to Rotterdam port workers

GREAT BAY/ROTTERDAM--A cocaine discovery by Customs officers in St. Maarten has led to the prosecution of two Rotterdam men accused of using their positions at a port terminal to help import and retrieve 23 kilograms of cocaine.

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service is seeking a 3.5-year prison sentence against a 39-year-old Rotterdam man and a three-year sentence, including 12 months suspended, against a 28-year-old Rotterdam man.

The case began in St. Maarten in April when Customs officers conducting an inspection found a sports bag containing 20 packages inside an empty container aboard a vessel that had departed Curaçao and was travelling via St. Maarten to several destinations, including the Port of Rotterdam.

Samples were taken from the packages and forensic testing confirmed that the substance was cocaine.

The discovery triggered an international operation involving authorities in St. Maarten and the Netherlands. Dutch Customs' Special Assistance Team in Rotterdam was alerted because the empty container was destined for a terminal in Rotterdam's Waalhaven.

When the container arrived in Rotterdam in early May, investigators from the HARC team began monitoring its movement. The original sports bag was replaced by investigators with a bag containing dummy packages before the container was released for unloading at the terminal.

Authorities subsequently observed movement involving the bag. According to prosecutors, the two suspects, who had been assigned to work at the terminal, opened the container and removed the bag.

The men then reportedly drove away from the terminal and parked near a residence in Rotterdam's Agniesebuurt. They later left the residence without their vehicles and did not return.

Investigators searched the vehicles and found two bags containing the dummy packages.

The Public Prosecution Service said there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the two men jointly participated in the importation of 23 kilograms of cocaine.

Part of their activity was captured on surveillance footage, according to prosecutors, including images showing the men leaving the terminal grounds carrying two sports bags. Those bags were later recovered from the vehicle with the dummy packages inside.

Investigators also found information on the phone of one of the suspects which prosecutors say demonstrated detailed knowledge of the method used to move cocaine through empty shipping containers.

According to the prosecutor, messages found on the phone showed that the suspect knew how bags containing blocks of cocaine could be placed behind the doors of empty containers and later removed after arrival.

The case took another turn when both suspects eventually reported themselves to police because they feared retaliation from the criminal network behind the shipment.

“They were being hunted,” the prosecutor told the court, explaining that the men wanted police and prosecutors to publicly confirm that the drugs had been intercepted and that the vehicles containing the bags had been seized.

The prosecutor said the suspects feared for their lives because the quantity of cocaine involved represented a considerable financial value to the criminal organization.

Prosecutors also consider the men's employment at the port an aggravating factor. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the suspects abused their positions and access at the terminal, damaging the trust of their employer as well as confidence in the wider Rotterdam port operation and the employees who work there legitimately.

The prosecution described the impact of criminal networks gaining assistance from workers inside port facilities as particularly serious because it allows organized crime to operate from within legitimate workplaces.

The 39-year-old suspect faces the heavier sentencing request because prosecutors believe messages recovered from his phone indicate that he played a more directing role and understood the operation in greater detail.

He was also still serving a probationary period connected to an earlier suspended prison sentence when the alleged offense occurred.

The prosecutor praised the investigation as a strong example of investigative work and international cooperation, with the case originating from the cocaine discovery by Customs officers in St. Maarten before being followed through to the shipment's final destination in Rotterdam.

‍