Port of Rotterdam - 'Cocaine Extractors'

The port of Rotterdam is the primary entry point for cocaine into Europe. This year authorities arrested over 450 so-called “drug extractors” at the port – young men hired to remove cocaine from containers. This was up from 280 extraction incidents reported in 2020. The extractors are smuggled into the port inside “hotel containers,” which are declared empty but contain basic living amenities. The extractors are usually young men, and are usually not hardened criminals with records. They are paid around 2,000 euros per kilo of cocaine collected. Until recently penalties were light, with small fines the norm.

That changed after a two-week period in September, where 110 were caught, several multiple times. A new law, that came into force on January 1, 2022, means any person found at the port without reason can face up to a year in jail. Authorities are also seeking to crack down on corruption inside the port that allows extractors to access the site. A CEO of a company operating at the port said his staff had been threatened to cooperate with drug extractors and some had even quit as a result. The problem is not unique to Rotterdam. Last year 13 people were busted at Belgium’s Antwerp port removing cocaine from a container.

See ----->4,178 kilos of cocaine landed in the Port of Rotterdam
See ----->Record year for cocaine at port of Rotterdam