This looking away is very Dutch but the underlying sense was that there was always this idea that crime kills crime, and people not involved were never damaged. Once a guy got shot and killed down the street of my place, and soon reports started coming that they were involved in the drug trade. Most of the people on my block were like “oh yeah.. that guy.. not an issue was selling all the time.”
With the recent murders on innocent people, we can see that this is no longer the case and something has to be done. But even in high profile cases key witnesses are being murdered days before they take the stand. It’s clear that the government doesn’t have a grasp on this situation and the massive security required for everyone involved is the consequence of this idea. This particular trial seems to be going in the direction of a conviction which is good, but these guys have made enough money to bend anything to there will, and going to prison is not going to stop these guys, especially the type of prisons we have in the Netherlands, and how violent this guys have shown themselves to be.
All that said, we have a long way ahead of us. I can see the digitizations and improvements is labeling making things hard in the port of Rotterdam. But this is one of the largest ports in the world, and it’s easy to pick up something unseen even with the best measures. Demand side management could be an option, but the upper classes love their cocaine apparently.
I can see it getting better, to the old state of things… but the crime will always get smarter as long there is money to be made.