Port company directors to stand trial over undercover drug operation

Three directors of a bulk storage company at the port of Vlissingen went on trial in Breda on Thursday, accused of storing large quantities of cocaine smuggled from South America.

These men Arrested The case was uncovered in May after a lengthy investigation that relied in part on information provided by undercover police officers posing as drug dealers.

He paid €180,000 for a batch of cocaine during an operation targeting Bulk Terminal Zeeland (BTZ), which police had long suspected of facilitating the smuggling of drugs into Zeeland. The drugs used in the raid came from an earlier seizure.

Experts say prosecutors must prove the sting operation involving 150 officers could not be considered an entrapment. Labor camp news.

Their lawyers “will say the initiative in smuggling was not theirs but the undercover officer. The prosecutor has to prove that’s not the case,” said Sophie Naber, an expert on undercover operations. However, she said courts usually allow some “bait” to catch criminals.

The three men, aged 58, 56 and 43, all from Zeeland province, were also charged with forgery of documents and membership of a criminal organisation. All three deny the charges.

This episode reminds me of IRT Scandals of the 1990sAt the time, a special task force set up to combat drug smuggling allowed thousands of kilograms of cocaine to flow into the country so they could monitor trade routes.

In 1994, a parliamentary inquiry heavily criticised the force, accusing it of facilitating organised crime, acting without the knowledge of the Ministry of Justice and allowing informants for drug gangs to act with near impunity.