The police fired warning shots last night when a number of people were arrested in the port of Vlissingen. It is possible that they are ‘snatchers’ of drugs.
Six suspects, aged 15 to 32, have been arrested. They all come from the Rotterdam region, Omroep Zeeland reports. No one was injured.
Snatchers are often young men or boys who are hired by drug gangs to extract drugs from sea containers that have been smuggled to the Netherlands. They are mainly found in the port of Rotterdam. But in this case, the Zeeland police took action.
Around 3:20 am, the police received a report that a number of people were climbing over a fence at a transhipment company in the port area of ​​Vlissingen-Oost. When officers, together with Customs, took a closer look, six suspects were found in the vicinity of the company. It is still unknown why the police then fired warning shots. It is also unclear whether the suspects had drugs with them.
Intruders
It is not the first time that the police have arrested people in the port area in Vlissingen. A week ago, two Albanian prowlers were arrested. And in April last year, a warning shot was fired when five men were arrested. Then it concerned suspects who tried to flee from the site of a company in the port.
- Rotterdam will work together with citizens to combat youth violence
- Snatchers arrested again on Maasvlakte, including a 14-year-old boy
- Eight suspected ‘snatchers’ arrested, youngest suspect is 17
