Dutch police call for urgent designer drug ban
amid rising trade
Dutch police are calling on the Eerste Kamer to swiftly pass a bill that would enforce a sweeping ban on New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), commonly referred to as designer drugs. The bill, already passed by the Tweede Kamer, would change the current approach of dealing with these substances, which are often chemically modified versions of illegal drugs.
“A comprehensive law is vital for effectively curbing the trade in these substances,” said Willem Woelders, the police’s drug portfolio holder. The legislation, which could reshape the fight against synthetic drugs in the Netherlands, is up for discussion on Tuesday, January 21.
“They swap out one or two atoms in the molecule, and suddenly it’s a new substance that isn’t controlled under the law,” said Peter Jansen, a police expert on drugs. “The effects stay the same, but the product is renamed and continues to be sold legally. Take 4-MMC, for example. When it was banned, 3-MMC appeared, and then 2-MMC followed. It’s a constant battle to keep up.”
“These drugs haven’t been adequately studied, and users, especially younger ones, often don’t know what they’re ingesting,” Jansen explained. “Because these substances are still legal, users mistakenly believe they’re safe. They’re easy to buy online, and delivery is just a click away. But a small dose can be deadly. Overdoses are already becoming more common.”
The problem goes beyond individual harm; the illegal production and distribution of designer drugs are often linked to organized crime. “The trade in these substances is tied to threats, violence, and significant safety risks like explosions in unregulated drug labs,” Woelders said. “This isn’t just a problem for the users but for the communities living near these labs.”
“We often can’t assist with international legal requests because these substances aren’t illegal here,” Woelders added. “Sometimes we even have to return seized materials to the producers. Other countries look at our system in disbelief. We’ve become an NPS hotspot for Europe and beyond, and that’s damaging to our reputation.”
“A blanket ban allows us to target many dangerous substances at once, even those that haven’t yet emerged,” Woelders said. “It would put an end to the slow process of evaluating each individual drug and make it easier to shut down illegal labs. That’s essential for protecting our communities.”
“We’re creating e-learning tools and developing clear protocols for our officers,” Jansen said. “Once the law passes, they’ll know exactly what to do when they encounter suspicious substances.”
“It’s time for the Eerste Kamer to act,” Woelders concluded. “This is our chance to close the loopholes that criminals have exploited for years. By adapting the Opium Act, we can combat an industry that harms public health and undermines the safety of our society.”
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Dutch criminals hired for violent attacks in
German drugs gang war; 23 arrested
Dutch criminals were hired to carry out a series of violent attacks in Germany, including kidnappings and the use of explosives, amid an escalating feud among gangs involved in drug trafficking, Europol announced on Thursday. A total of 23 people were arrested in a joint police operation by authorities in the Netherlands and Germany.
The dispute originated in Cologne, Germany, where a disagreement led one party to hire Dutch criminals to conduct retaliatory attacks on German soil, Europol alleged. Police in both countries monitored the situation before conducting a coordinated “action day” in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
This resulted in three arrests and raids on eight homes. Prior to this, 20 suspects had already been taken into custody, and several other searches were carried out as part of the ongoing investigation.
Authorities seized several items, including a converted firearm, explosives, 20,000 euros in cash, illicit substances, and mobile phones. The suspects are accused of kidnapping, assault, and drug trafficking.
Europol stated that the criminals used minors to perform some of the attacks. They added that this highlights “the unsettling and increasing trend of crime-as-a-service involving a younger age group.”
A Europol expert was deployed to the mobile center in Amsterdam on the day of the operation to perform cross-checks.
The criminals' choice to use explosives “highlights the criminals’ disregard for potential collateral damage and injury,” Europol’s statement read.
Significant decrease in intercepted drug shipments at the
Port of Rotterdam in 2024
The number of people arrested also decreased significantly. Around 452 people were arrested in 2023, while the number of arrests totaled 266 last year. Most of the people arrested were between 18 and 22 years old. The youngest was 14 years old, and the oldest was 63 years of age. There were 59 underage people among the arrests.
The explanation for the decrease is sharpened security measures, said the chief prosecutor of Zeeland-West-Brabant, Mariëtte Bode. An example of this is the usage of drones by customs. Another factor is that fewer people are needed for smaller drug shipments.
Over 12,5 kilos of drugs were intercepted in the port of Vlissingen, which is an increase of 1,300 kilos compared to 2023. The HARC has not seen any evidence to suggest that there is a connection between the decrease in Rotterdam and the slight increase in the Zeeland-West Brabant region.
In total, 38,000 kilos of drugs were intercepted in the Netherlands in 2024. This too, is a significant decrease compared to 2023 when almost 60,000 kilos were discovered.
There was also a significant decrease in intercepted drugs in Antwerp last year. Customs think that a portion of the drug trade in the Benelux has moved to France and Spain. The number of drugs that were discovered in France last year doubled compared to 2023. A shipment of 13,000 kilos of cocaine was intercepted in Spain.
The total value of the intercepted drug shipments was 917 million euros. The drugs were hidden in 189 shipments in Rotterdam and 11 in Vlissingen. A total of 80 criminal investigations were started as a result of the cases in Rotterdam. Vlissingen saw 25 investigations started as a result of their findings.
HARC has said that it is “remarkable” that the size of the shipments has decreased. Around 115 shipments of less than 100 kilos were found in 2024, compared to 81 the year before. “Criminals may be doing more to spread the risk."
Despite this, some large packages were seized. A shipment of over 3,600 kilos was intercepted in Rotterdam and Vlissingen. The largest shipment seized in the port of Moerdijk was almost 3,100 kilos. The number of large shipments, of a thousand kilos or more, dropped from 13 in 2023 to eight in 2024.
Class-action lawsuit targeting opioid manufacturers certified by B.C. Supreme Court
B.C.’s attorney general says the B.C. Supreme Court has certified the province’s class-action lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
Niki Sharma says B.C. can now proceed as a representative plaintiff on behalf of other Canadian governments with the litigation aimed at recovering the costs of treating opioid-related diseases allegedly caused by the industry’s conduct.
She says in a statement the top court decision reaffirms B.C.’s commitment to holding pharmaceutical companies accountable for their role in the opioid crisis, which was declared a public health emergency in the province in April 2016.
Last November, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the constitutionality of a law allowing B.C. to pursue a class-action lawsuit on behalf of other Canadian governments.
That’s after several opioid companies argued in B.C. Supreme Court that the province was overstepping its authority under the constitution.
But a majority of the top court found that B.C.’s law respects the legislative authority of other Canadian governments, which can choose to opt out of the proceeding, and the decision noted that nearly every province and territory as well as the federal government intended to take part in the class-action.
Sharma says the class-action’s certification marks a “significant milestone” in the proceedings that date back to 2018, when the province first launched the lawsuit.
“Our goal was clear: to recover the health-care costs of treating opioid-related harms and to hold manufacturers and distributors accountable for their role in allegedly using deceptive marketing practices to drive sales, contributing to addiction and overdose rates in the country,” she says.
The most recent data from the B.C. Coroners Service released in December says in the first 10 months of last year there were 1,925 overdose deaths, marking a nine per cent decrease from the same time period in 2023.
Canadian government statistics say there were more than 49,000 opioid toxicity deaths reported between January 2016 and June 2024 across the country.
