crime
Netherlands: Increasing number of attacks in the drug milieu
Police forces are investigating an explosion site in Rotterdam. photo
© Killian Lindenburg/ANP/dpa
Incendiary bombs and explosives: According to the investigators, the attacks occur when drugs are not paid for on time or a delivery is lost. Ascending trend.
A rapid increase in bomb attacks in the Drug milieu worries the police in the Netherlands. By the middle of the year, 303 attacks against apartments and company buildings had already been registered, compared to 325 in the entire previous year, the police said on Sunday.
One focus is the port city of Rotterdam. Increasingly heavier incendiary bombs and explosives are being used, just like those used to blow up ATMs. It is a miracle that so far there have been only a few injuries and no deaths.
According to the police investigation, most of the attacks are related to drug trafficking, the public broadcaster NOS reported, referring to the investigators. The attacks come when drugs are not paid for on time or a delivery is lost. The attacks were not intended to kill anyone, but were intended as a threat and were therefore sometimes aimed at relatives. The attacks would also occur in connection with the extortion of restaurants or to harm an unwelcome competitor. Even in the case of relationship conflicts, there are now attacks, the broadcaster reported, referring to the police.
According to the police, clients were increasingly using younger people for the attacks, and half of those arrested in Rotterdam were 23 years old or younger. The perpetrators often received the order through a middleman or social media such as Snapchat or Telegram, according to the police. They often do not know why and on whom they attacked. The government has meanwhile increased the number of cities in which preventive measures are taken against the phenomenon and young people are warned of the consequences if they are caught after participating in an attack.