Getting a foot in the door. Spaces of cocaine trafficking in the Port of Rotterdam.
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Getting a foot in the door. Spaces of cocaine trafficking in the Port of Rotterdam. Robby Roks 1 & Lieselot Bisschop 2
& Richard
Staring 1
Accepted: 16 September 2020/ # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract As an important gateway to Europe, the Port of Rotterdam is known for its high-quality facilities and efficiency, but also attracts organised crime groups who use the transatlantic legal trade flows to traffic cocaine. Based on a qualitative study, consisting of 73 interviews with public and private actors, an analysis of 10 criminal investigations and field visits to public and private organisations in the port, this article examines how organised crime groups involved in cocaine trafficking take advantage of or adapt to the socio-spatial relations in the Port of Rotterdam. First, we pay attention to which physical spaces in the port of Rotterdam provide opportunities for cocaine trafficking. Second, we examine how the occupational and legal environment in which people, private companies and law enforcement agencies in the port work and interact provide opportunities for cocaine trafficking. Our findings demonstrate that increased security measures by both public and private actors directed at physical spaces result in a displacement to new spaces in and around the port of Rotterdam. Furthermore, the current socio-spatial relations in the port of Rotterdam also make the role of people on the inside – referring to a whole range of public and private employees – increasingly indispensable. Keywords Cocaine trafficking . Port . Embeddedness . Corruption . Spaces
* Lieselot Bisschop [email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000–0002–7298–4067 Robby Roks [email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000–0003–3247–7658 Richard Staring [email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000–0001–6352–9911 1
Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738 – 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2
Erasmus Initiative on Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity & Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Trends in Organized Crime
Introduction With a total throughput of 469.4 million tonnes and 8.781.185 containers in 2019, the port of Rotterdam – also known as Europoort – is the largest harbour in Europe, and the largest in the world outside of Asia (Castelein et al. 2019: 4; Port of Rotterdam 2019: 2). The port of Rotterdam owes its competitive position to a range of factors, including its unlimited access for deep-draft vessels, good accessibility via water, rail and road, high-quality port infrastructure and efficient handling of containers and bulk goods (Port of Rotterdam 2019: 10; Van der Horst et al. 2019: 191). However, in addition to being known as the most important ‘gateway to Europe’ (Port of Rotterdam 2019; Jacobs 2000), Rotterdam is also one its main entry points for cocaine (UNODC 2018: 31–32). In 2019, a record total of 33.732 k of cocaine was seized in the port of Rotterdam, almost doubling the 2018 record amount of 19.000 kg (OM 2020). Throughput, harbour, g
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