May 16, 2023
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A container vessel was asked to anchor off the Vlissingen coast by the end of December following a hoax bomb alert. It was loaded with more than 24,000 kilos of cocaine, officials informed recently.
The vessel set sail to Antwerp from Senegal and was asked to dock in Vlissingen following a call from an anonymous person who rang Belgian authorities.
The person threatened to blow up the vessel if it docked at the Belgian port.
The ship reportedly was anchored off the Dutch coast for a week while the end-to-end investigation was conducted.
It was allowed to move to Antwerp and unload cargo. Many days later, relevant officials found almost 24,440 kilos of cocaine to be hidden among a cocoa consignment on the ship.
During the past week, the Dutch police were able to arrest two Dutch nationals, whom they suspected of having made these calls.
One is a 24-year-old individual from Delft; the other is a 22-year-old boy from Hague.
Police said that they think that the bomb hoax was related to the international drugs trade, and the investigation is still in progress. The two men have faced terrorism charges.
References: Dutch News, NL Times
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