"The quantity of drugs we confiscate doubles every year," says Jan Gerard Hameetman of Rotterdam River Police, which works closely with the customs authorities and the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD).It's like beating your head against a brick wall. Rotterdam, "Gateway to Europe" and the largest port in the world, handles huge consignments of bulk goods every day. 6.3 million containers pass through the port every year, with some ships carrying up to 6,000. The River Police inspect an average of 30,000 ships a year. Many more pass through unchecked. "The harbour would grind to a standstill if we had to inspect them all," says Hameetman. "It would take three weeks to comb through a ship with 4,000 containers. And if we came away empty-handed, the owners would sue us. So we only inspect a vessel if we suspect there might be drugs or other contraband on board."
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