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Two Albanians have been arrested in the Netherlands after being caught red-handed with a significant amount of cocaine.
Dutch authorities say the drugs involved about 500 kilograms, while investigations have uncovered a sophisticated network of shell companies that served as a cover for criminal activity. A firearm was also seized during the operation.
According to Dutch media, the drugs were hidden in goods imported through companies posing as legitimate fruit transport and import businesses. Investigations revealed that behind them lay a complex network of fictitious companies, used as a cover for the smuggling.
The full article published by the Dutch media "De Telegraaf":
A special police team is pursuing drug criminals who use seemingly regular businesses as a front for cocaine smuggling.
It is the morning of Thursday, January 29, when, after investigations, an arrest unit intervened in a warehouse on Van Leeuwenhoekstraat in Harderwijk. Inside the facility, two people from Albania were extracting trafficked cocaine from a device. In total, 500 kilograms were seized. A firearm was also found. According to Janse, this is not a coincidence, but part of a broader trend. Drug traffickers are returning to old tricks to bring cocaine into the Netherlands.
A complex network of fictitious firms
Behind seemingly legitimate fruit transport and import companies, there is once again a tangled network of fictitious firms. Criminals open legitimate companies as a cover and move to warehouses outside the port to extract drugs from imported goods.
This is not a luxury, but a necessity, says Janse, the outgoing chief of the Rotterdam Seaport Police in the Netherlands. The Port of Rotterdam has become increasingly secure in recent years, thanks to close cooperation with terminals, shipping companies and carriers.
For "extractors" (people who take drugs from containers), due to increased security measures, it has become much more difficult to enter and exit the area.
"We have erected barriers to prevent criminals from doing so, and this is paying off. But sitting idly by is not an option," says Janse.
In the first month of 2026, almost 8,000 kilograms of cocaine were seized in the port of Rotterdam, of which around 5,000 kilograms were destined for a company in Moerdijk. For comparison: during the whole of 2024, 11,466 kilograms were seized.
According to Janse, an old method is making a comeback: criminal shipping lines set up through seemingly legitimate businesses.
"The road through the Chamber of Commerce should be closed"
According to him, this path should be closed in cooperation with the Tax Administration and the Chamber of Commerce. It is too easy to open a company without serious subsequent controls.
"And it's not just about drug trafficking. We see the same mechanism in other criminal activities," he says.
More instruments are needed to investigate suspicious companies more quickly. The Chamber of Commerce should have a stronger “gatekeeper” role. It should intervene more quickly when VAT or income tax is not paid, or when annual balance sheets are missing. Companies should be deregistered more quickly if they are found to be serving as a front or for money laundering.
Janse gives a practical example: "A neighborhood police officer is sent for verification and finds that a 'car dealership' is located on the second floor of a building. When he knocks, no one opens the door. Or a barbershop where no customer ever enters, but which has been renovated for 200 thousand euros."
Institutions should also focus on Chamber of Commerce registrations. “With the coverage team, we saw that this works. We saw it in the port of Rotterdam through cooperation and the removal of barriers. But this requires constant vigilance,” concludes Janse.
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