After the attack on reporters: will the Netherlands become a narco state?

The attack on the Dutch journalist de Vries shook all of Europe. The case shows a fundamental problem: the government has little to counter organized crime.

Drug conflicts that are violently carried out on the street, attempted murder and threats – for Vito Shukrula none of this is particularly surprising. The Rotterdam lawyer has been representing drug suspects for years. And dealings there are getting rougher, according to Shukrula. He lists how the milieu tries to intimidate people.

“A severed head was found in front of a hookah bar, and a lawyer was murdered,” says Shukrula. “Sometimes I have the feeling that you have taken some inspiration from Colombia.” With a mixture of intimidation and bribery, the cartels succeed in harnessing more and more people in the area around the port of Rotterdam for their own purposes. This is where by far most of the drugs in Europe arrive, and the turnstile can hardly be checked completely by the authorities.

A culture of looking away?

And sometimes you don’t look too closely either, suspects lawyer Shukrula – because the state structures have long been infiltrated by criminals: “With this amount of cocaine, a lot of money comes in, and people want to earn money quickly. And if someone does Psychopath has 400, 500 million available and you can hire a killer and it undermines the whole system of government. ”

As with the current attack on criminal journalist Peter R. de Vries: Vito Shukrula even warned him personally that he was on a drug mafia’s death list. After the shots in Amsterdam, there was quickly talk of an attack on freedom of the press in the Netherlands, although this motive is not so clear, because de Vries is also a key witness in the largest trial in the history of the Netherlands.

In the so-called Marengo trial, suspects are on trial who are said to have operated drug networks for years using the most brutal methods. The authorities have now confirmed a possible connection between the alleged bombers and the main suspects.

Government is helpless

Has the government once again underestimated the possibilities of organized crime? The broadcaster RTL Nieuws asked the responsible Minister of Justice Ferdinand Grapperhaus after the attack. When he answered, he visibly struggled with the words: “You know, this really is a multi-headed monster. It is becoming more and more violent, more and more unscrupulous. And we as the cabinet say, we really have to do something here. which lasts ten years. ”

This makes it clear that the grievances have become so great that a swift control seems unlikely – a problem also for the government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, currently only executive in office. It actually stands for stability, a firm hand and uncompromising reach.

National self-image called into question

But it is precisely in the fight against organized crime that she seems overwhelmed. This leads to increasing criticism of the government. The pandemic, a government crisis, drug crime – it all comes together. Repressed problems would now break through, says the political expert René Cuperus: “I think Holland has to do with a crisis of confidence, with a cracked self-image. Because Holland’s self-image was actually: We are one of the best organized countries in the world. Together with Germany.”

Dutch society is currently hitting the ground hard. There is a widespread belief in the country that things cannot go on like this. However, some also wonder whether it is not already too late to take countermeasures.