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[dramatic music]

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[Narrator] Amsterdam, July of 2021.

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On the banks of a canal
in the city centre,

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a crowd of people gather
to pay their respects.

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Some of them shed tears.

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They came from all over
the Netherlands to pay

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their last respects
to one of the country's

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most famous figures, Peter de Vries.

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[audience applauding]

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The star journalist
of Dutch television,

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shot dead in the street
a few days earlier.

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[dramatic music]

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Peter de Vries was 64 years old,

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an investigative journalist
specializing in criminal cases.

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For more than 30 years,

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he kept Dutch viewers
on the edge of their seats

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with his
hard-hitting investigations.

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[announcer speaking
in foreign language]

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You’re watching the programme that
will reveal what the police and the mob,

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have always wanted to keep secret,
but you want to know.

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For several months, he'd been
working on a story following

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an ultra violent mafia

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that was operating
in the Netherlands.

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There was a price on his head,

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but he refused police protection.

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His murder took place in
the heart of Amsterdam.

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It's 7:00 PM.

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Peter de Vries in
a light coloured suit

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leaves the studio
where he recorded his program.

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He goes home.

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He doesn't know that the killers
have been following him.

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[guns blasting]

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Peter is shot five times
at close range.

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He was such an important person for
the Netherlands and really appreciated.

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He became a victim of what
he was fighting so hard against

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so I felt compelled to come.

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It's really shocking, horrible
that something can happen.

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Then you're back from work
and then you're shot.

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What do you think this means
for Dutch society?

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A collapse.

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I've been to the crime
scene once or twice,

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I've talked to people
and it's unbelievable...

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The sadness,
the emotion, the silence.

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Atrocious!

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What do you mean by "collapse"?

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That our society is somehow
becoming less and less safe.

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What is happening to this country?

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It’s a peaceful country.

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[Narrator] This murder
is not a unique case.

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This is the latest in a series
of assassinations coordinated

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by drug traffickers,

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a phenomenon that is now
threatening the whole of Europe.

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It seems hard to believe,

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but the Netherlands with its
tulip fields and windmills,

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is now the new playground
of drug cartels.

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In less than ten years,

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the Netherlands and Belgium
have become the main gateway

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for cocaine into Europe.

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[dramatic music]

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This is because the two largest ports
on the continent are located here.

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Rotterdam and Antwerp.

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Thousands of ships
from all over the world

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pass through every week.

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It's now estimated that between
50% and 80% of the cocaine

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consumed in Europe
is hidden in these containers.

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For customs offices,
it's a real headache.

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It's impossible to check all the loads.

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Paul Meyer was one of the players
in this traffic in the 2000s.

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He agreed to reveal some
of his tricks to us.

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This is a boat from South America,

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and then you know that this boat
is coming back here.

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So you need people here,
or you don't need somebody.

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Somebody put containers out
and simple.

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It's not difficult.

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[Narrator]
In the ports fear has set in.

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The dockers are constantly
harassed by traffickers

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who want to recruit them.

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They try to get your name

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and when you don't cooperate with them,
they threaten you.

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And they attack you or your family.

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It's a dangerous business.

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[explosion booms]

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This traffic gave birth
to a new mafia,

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led by Dutch people,
all of Moroccan origin,

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the Mocro mafia.

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Powerfully armed,

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these gangs are ultra violent
and do not hesitate

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to use torture.

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One of their members testifies.

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[dramatic music]

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If someone has to die, he will die.

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It doesn't matter
if he is with a woman or a child.

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He has to die.

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These drug traffickers
feel invincible,

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attacks on journalists,

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a murder of a lawyer.

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Even the Dutch Prime Minister
is not safe

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from their threats.

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A terrifying prospect
to end up on their blacklist.

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I'm protected by
the Dutch military police,

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a special unit of them,
a very professional unit.

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But I'm not allowed to say anything

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about how this protection
is organized.

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[Narrator] This cocaine
trafficking generates

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tens of billions of euros each year.

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The authorities are concerned.

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Are Belgium and the Netherlands

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becoming the first narco states

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in the heart of Europe?

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A suburb of Amsterdam, March, 2022.

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The beginning of an extraordinary trial.

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A large police force was
deployed around this building,

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which at first sight seems to be ordinary,

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but is in fact highly secure.

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A bunker,

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it has been
specially designed for trials

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related to organized crime
with surveillance cameras,

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armoured windows,
and permanently closed shutters.

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It's here that one of
the most powerful bosses

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of the Mocro mafia would be judged.

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He arrives in an armoured vehicle.

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Ridouan Taghi, 44 years old.

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According to the police,

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he controls 30%
of the cocaine traffic in Europe

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and has an estimated fortune

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of almost a hundred million euros.

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Alongside him, 16 of his accomplices.

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They're being prosecuted for
six murders and approximately

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20 attempted murders.

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An intense trial.

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It's forbidden to film or even draw
the faces of magistrates.

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Journalists follow the debates
in a small room far away.

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According to Woulter Laumans,
an expert on criminal cases,

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this trial is a first
in the Netherlands.

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The prosecutors are now anonymous.

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They ask us
not to write down their name,

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also of the judges.

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And it says
something about the fear

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that's around
the whole Marengo trial.

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[Narrator] In the courtroom,

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protected by bulletproof glass,

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the key witness of the trial.

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He's the former right-hand man
of Ridouane Taghi.

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But since he agreed
to collaborate with the police,

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there's been one death after
another in his entourage.

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When they announced
that they had a crown witness.

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Within weeks,
his brother was killed.

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Later on, his lawyer was murdered,

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and then Mr Peter de Vries
became his trust person,

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his representative in the media.

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And he got murdered last summer.

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[Narrator] From the depths
of his prison,

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Ridouane Taghi reigns terror.

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The witness's first lawyer
had been murdered at his home

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in front of his wife.

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Today, a new lawyer replaces him.

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He lives under close protection,
24 hours a day,

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seven days a week.

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He agreed to meet with us.

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[dramatic music]

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[gulls crying]

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Peter Schouten arranged to meet us
at the long beaches

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along the North Sea,
two hours drive from Amsterdam.

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He's 65-years-old and his life
has changed with this trial.

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I'm now in the protection
for a year, more than a year.

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[Journalist] How does
it feel living like this?

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Well, it's a little bit
to be like a package,

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but actually
I'm proud I can do this job,

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and I would never let
anybody intimidate me.

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It's important
that a suspect has a lawyer.

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Somebody has to do it.

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And for me, it feels
important that in a democracy,

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we follow the rule of law.

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[Narrator] Military personnel
in plain clothes

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are never far.

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The lawyer was a close friend
of journalist Peter de Vries.

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Both had been informed
by the secret services

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that they were on
Ridouane Taghi's blacklist.

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We were discussing the dangers,
the risks,

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and it was clear
that we discussed the fact

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that one of us could be shot.

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But we of course, didn't know
who would be the first one.

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I told Peter that he was
the biggest prize,

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because he's very famous,

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and therefore it would create
far more chaos

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than it would to kill me.

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[Narrator] While working on this trial,

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the two friends discovered
how powerful

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Ridouane Taghi's organization was

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and how much of a threat
it posed to the Netherlands.

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My client has made statements
up to 1,500 pages

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about how they work
and how they do the killings,

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how they spot the victims.

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It really shows
a very organized way

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of doing their business.

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This is actually also something
that makes it very difficult

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for the Netherlands to fight with.

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The authorities are quite unorganized,

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and crime is quite organized.

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[Narrator] These mafia gangs
were built around

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the cocaine trade that has exploded
in the Netherlands in recent years.

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But the government has long
underestimated this phenomenon.

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Yet in Amsterdam,

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one man warned of the rise
of this new crime.

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This Walter Loumans,

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the journalist we met during
the trial of Ridouane Taghi.

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He's written two books
on the subject.

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This the first one, "Mocro Maffia."

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This was published in 2014.

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I sold about,
140,000 copies we sold.

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[Narrator] The book became
a social phenomenon,

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and even inspired a fictional series
on Dutch television.

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The Dutch witnessed
the merciless war between gangs

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to take control
of the cocaine trade.

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"Mocro mafia" is a slang term
chosen by Woulter

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to refer to the Moroccan mafia.

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As we all know,

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a lot of hashish gets smuggled
from Morocco to Europe.

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So what is the epicentre
of European software culture?

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It's Amsterdam with the coffee shops.

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So the whole infrastructure
was already there.

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Then in Colombia,

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the cocaine cartels started
targeting Europe as a market.

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They started shipping
the drugs to West Africa,

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and the cocaine went over
the old hashish lines into Europe.

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That's how it started.

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So the guys who were running
these lines became very rich,

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and that's the explanation

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why these guys are...
a lot of them are of Moroccan descent.

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[Narrator] The Port of
Rotterdam was the main

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moneymaking base for the Mocro mafia.

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As the largest port in Europe,

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30,000 ships pass through
each year.

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In 2021, customs managed to seize
70 tons of cocaine.

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But this is only
a small part of the drugs

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that enter the country.

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I've seen guys who went from young guys,

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with a North Face jacket
on the scooter,

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in the banlieue area
to multimillionaire,

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who owns millions
of real estate in Dubai.

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In a time span of three years,

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this can happen.

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So it's not the gold dream,
it's the white dream.

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That's why Ridouane Taghi
stands model

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for this new generation
of Dutch criminals.

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He started dealing marijuana
and then at a certain point,

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he replaced the hashish
for bricks of cocaine,

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and he became very wealthy.

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[Narrator] Fifty kilometres
from Amsterdam,

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Laserdref High Security Prison,

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where the country's most
dangerous criminals are locked up.

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Vito Shukrula regularly
visits his clients there.

253
00:13:36,869 --> 00:13:38,320
At 32 years old,

254
00:13:38,405 --> 00:13:41,278
he's one of the Mocro mafia's
favourite lawyers.

255
00:13:41,489 --> 00:13:43,812
He's familiar with
the profile of young people

256
00:13:43,897 --> 00:13:45,610
who are recruited by traffickers.

257
00:13:51,149 --> 00:13:53,255
When you talk to these guys,

258
00:13:53,339 --> 00:13:56,495
you find out that they don't
have much in life.

259
00:13:56,579 --> 00:14:01,784
Sometimes they have a very, very bad
childhood with a lot of violence,

260
00:14:02,143 --> 00:14:03,575
or they don't have anything,

261
00:14:03,659 --> 00:14:07,543
bad schooling,
bad education, low intelligence.

262
00:14:07,829 --> 00:14:11,663
And they are very vulnerable
and they are easy targets

263
00:14:11,796 --> 00:14:13,796
for guys in the underworld.

264
00:14:14,219 --> 00:14:15,522
[Narrator] He's surprised by the speed

265
00:14:15,606 --> 00:14:17,375
with which these young recruits

266
00:14:17,459 --> 00:14:20,192
go from petty crime
to extreme violence.

267
00:14:21,209 --> 00:14:22,175
Before there was people,

268
00:14:22,259 --> 00:14:23,945
they were professional hit men.

269
00:14:24,029 --> 00:14:28,455
But nowadays you see young people
18, 19 years,

270
00:14:29,181 --> 00:14:32,255
and they maybe start with
stealing a bike.

271
00:14:32,340 --> 00:14:34,673
And then within two, three months

272
00:14:35,322 --> 00:14:38,762
they get handed a Kalashnikov
from someone, and they shoot somebody.

273
00:14:39,809 --> 00:14:41,255
[Narrator] Vito set up his practice

274
00:14:41,339 --> 00:14:42,935
in the suburbs of Amsterdam

275
00:14:43,019 --> 00:14:46,385
in an area inhabited mainly
by the Moroccan community.

276
00:14:47,459 --> 00:14:48,395
Don't need it anymore?

277
00:14:48,479 --> 00:14:49,385
[Journalist] No.

278
00:14:49,469 --> 00:14:51,455
- Here you better stop.
- [Journalist] Sorry?

279
00:14:51,539 --> 00:14:52,639
[Vito] To film here.

280
00:14:54,374 --> 00:14:56,107
[Journalist] Why shouldn't
I be filming here?

281
00:14:56,192 --> 00:14:57,062
They're gonna kick you.

282
00:14:57,147 --> 00:14:58,537
They're gonna beat you.

283
00:14:58,622 --> 00:14:59,485
[Journalist] Why?

284
00:14:59,570 --> 00:15:00,564
[Vito] Why? Because they're criminals.

285
00:15:00,649 --> 00:15:02,400
They don't want
the neighbourhood to be filmed.

286
00:15:02,485 --> 00:15:03,355
Okay.

287
00:15:03,588 --> 00:15:06,757
The guys that live here, one of them
has a brother, got life imprisonment,

288
00:15:06,842 --> 00:15:08,770
for shooting at police,
so they don't care.

289
00:15:10,283 --> 00:15:12,715
If the police here,
they always come to arrest someone

290
00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:14,225
with three, four, or five cars.

291
00:15:14,309 --> 00:15:16,209
'Cause they're gonna
get into a fight.

292
00:15:17,669 --> 00:15:18,502
It's not safe.

293
00:15:20,039 --> 00:15:21,785
[Narrator] Today
the Mocro mafia accounts

294
00:15:21,869 --> 00:15:23,915
for half of his clientele.

295
00:15:23,999 --> 00:15:25,685
He built his reputation by getting

296
00:15:25,769 --> 00:15:27,647
one of their leaders acquitted.

297
00:15:27,941 --> 00:15:31,348
Ironically, his parents were fans
of the film, "The Godfather".

298
00:15:31,433 --> 00:15:34,616
So they named him Vito
in memory of Vito Corleone.

299
00:15:35,770 --> 00:15:38,975
[dramatic music]

300
00:15:39,059 --> 00:15:41,765
The lawyer has noticed
that the cases he's dealt with

301
00:15:41,849 --> 00:15:43,685
are getting increasingly violent,

302
00:15:43,769 --> 00:15:45,485
often with weapons of war.

303
00:15:45,569 --> 00:15:46,805
[explosion booms]

304
00:15:46,889 --> 00:15:49,768
Like this raid on a house
in the suburbs of Amsterdam,

305
00:15:49,853 --> 00:15:52,046
where the police discovered
an arsenal.

306
00:15:54,060 --> 00:15:56,810
[dramatic music]

307
00:15:59,549 --> 00:16:02,598
So this is a case about

308
00:16:02,972 --> 00:16:04,475
a large stack of weapons

309
00:16:04,559 --> 00:16:06,748
that was found in a garage

310
00:16:08,842 --> 00:16:10,474
with machine rifles,

311
00:16:10,559 --> 00:16:12,077
AK-47,

312
00:16:12,317 --> 00:16:13,601
grenades,

313
00:16:14,099 --> 00:16:15,240
revolvers.

314
00:16:15,576 --> 00:16:17,478
Everything that you need
to kill people

315
00:16:17,563 --> 00:16:19,505
can be found
in this kind of garage.

316
00:16:19,589 --> 00:16:22,175
If you're talking about
license plates, stolen cars,

317
00:16:22,259 --> 00:16:26,158
heavy artillery, suits, hoodies,

318
00:16:26,243 --> 00:16:29,117
everything can be found
in there and it shows

319
00:16:29,202 --> 00:16:32,330
the level of professionalism
that people use to kill people.

320
00:16:33,179 --> 00:16:35,794
[Narrator] The war between
the different Mocro mafia gangs

321
00:16:35,879 --> 00:16:38,612
is said to have left more
than a hundred people dead.

322
00:16:42,134 --> 00:16:44,985
The amount of violence
and the way that they use it

323
00:16:45,189 --> 00:16:49,984
is getting more and more extreme
as to show who's tougher,

324
00:16:50,069 --> 00:16:51,674
that they want to show each other,

325
00:16:51,759 --> 00:16:55,282
"I'm the boss, I can come with
more extreme violence than you,"

326
00:16:55,438 --> 00:16:57,855
to just try
to scare each other off.

327
00:16:57,940 --> 00:17:01,110
But the thing is that it
keeps going on and on and on,

328
00:17:01,461 --> 00:17:05,585
and with beheadings and
shooting people in broad daylight,

329
00:17:05,669 --> 00:17:08,255
even if they're with
a baby or with a wife.

330
00:17:08,339 --> 00:17:11,762
So there's no rules in this game.

331
00:17:12,779 --> 00:17:14,991
[Narrator] Here are some
examples of text messages

332
00:17:15,076 --> 00:17:18,092
sent by Ridouane Taghi
to his men in the field.

333
00:17:19,731 --> 00:17:22,140
I need a bloodbath and nothing else...

334
00:17:22,225 --> 00:17:24,374
The 'Yougo' is no longer alive,

335
00:17:24,459 --> 00:17:27,192
the dog has been shot
5 or 6 times in the head...

336
00:17:27,633 --> 00:17:31,366
Better shoot that butcher.
Everyone can know it's from me.

337
00:17:31,451 --> 00:17:33,673
He spoke with the police...

338
00:17:35,801 --> 00:17:38,792
[Narrator] But it was during a raid
that the Dutch police discovered

339
00:17:38,877 --> 00:17:41,941
that the Mocro mafia had reached
a new level of horror.

340
00:17:42,299 --> 00:17:45,152
June 2020, they storm a farm.

341
00:17:47,905 --> 00:17:50,945
[explosion booms]
[dramatic music]

342
00:17:51,029 --> 00:17:53,885
Law enforcement agencies discovered
that it served

343
00:17:53,969 --> 00:17:55,715
as a rear base for a drug gang,

344
00:17:55,799 --> 00:17:58,325
a competitor of Ridouane Taghi.

345
00:17:58,409 --> 00:18:00,575
They inspect the rooms one by one,

346
00:18:00,659 --> 00:18:02,552
they find no drugs or money.

347
00:18:10,799 --> 00:18:12,202
But in a garage,

348
00:18:12,405 --> 00:18:14,903
seven containers
transformed into a cell,

349
00:18:14,988 --> 00:18:18,201
with soundproof walls and
handcuffs fixed to the floor.

350
00:18:19,416 --> 00:18:22,333
[soldiers yelling]

351
00:18:23,162 --> 00:18:26,060
In one of them,
a stock of police uniforms.

352
00:18:29,129 --> 00:18:32,075
This container fitted out
as a torture room,

353
00:18:32,159 --> 00:18:34,835
a dentist's chair
with straps and handcuffs,

354
00:18:34,919 --> 00:18:38,762
and in the corner pliers,
pincers and even a blow torch.

355
00:18:40,355 --> 00:18:43,105
[dramatic music]

356
00:18:48,479 --> 00:18:51,812
We managed to get in touch
with a member of the Mocro mafia.

357
00:18:52,843 --> 00:18:56,025
You mean near
the fast food restaurant?

358
00:18:57,383 --> 00:18:59,599
Is it accessible by car?

359
00:19:00,627 --> 00:19:03,450
Vito, the lawyer acted
as our intermediary.

360
00:19:06,613 --> 00:19:09,745
[dramatic music]

361
00:19:09,830 --> 00:19:12,476
A meeting behind closed doors
under a bridge

362
00:19:12,561 --> 00:19:14,577
in the suburbs of Amsterdam.

363
00:19:14,699 --> 00:19:16,685
The man is 34-years-old.

364
00:19:16,858 --> 00:19:19,834
He belonged to a rival clan
of Ridouan Taghi.

365
00:19:19,919 --> 00:19:22,265
He was the boss' right-hand man.

366
00:19:22,409 --> 00:19:25,262
Twenty years of
Mocro mafia under his belt.

367
00:19:25,538 --> 00:19:27,063
The problem in
the criminal world is

368
00:19:27,148 --> 00:19:30,134
that when you are young,
you want to earn money quickly,

369
00:19:30,218 --> 00:19:32,573
you want nice clothes, nice cars...

370
00:19:32,753 --> 00:19:35,001
And so you start with
the little things:

371
00:19:35,086 --> 00:19:38,038
you steal a little,
you sell a little bit of drugs

372
00:19:38,123 --> 00:19:40,884
and without realising it,
you fall into another world.

373
00:19:41,633 --> 00:19:43,705
And after that,
there is no turning back.

374
00:19:45,018 --> 00:19:47,705
[Narrator] Very quickly,
the young recruits become soldiers,

375
00:19:47,789 --> 00:19:51,152
capable of killing on command
to prove their allegiance.

376
00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:54,720
How much money is someone
to get paid to kill somebody?

377
00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,365
The cheapest is
four thousand euros.

378
00:19:58,610 --> 00:20:03,382
The most expensive, depending on
the importance of the person...

379
00:20:03,516 --> 00:20:05,808
It can reach millions.

380
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,895
Here in the Netherlands
there is no honour and respect for people.

381
00:20:08,980 --> 00:20:10,491
If someone has to die, he will die.

382
00:20:10,576 --> 00:20:12,699
It doesn't matter
if he is with a woman or a child.

383
00:20:12,784 --> 00:20:14,070
He has to die.

384
00:20:14,385 --> 00:20:17,947
What do you think about Ridouan Taghi?

385
00:20:21,945 --> 00:20:24,065
I have no answer to the question.

386
00:20:24,895 --> 00:20:26,897
[Journalist] What's his reputation?

387
00:20:26,982 --> 00:20:28,394
[Interviewee] Bad.

388
00:20:29,369 --> 00:20:30,202
Angry.

389
00:20:31,841 --> 00:20:36,701
I would say that it's like a monster.
A monster, like a devil.

390
00:20:37,349 --> 00:20:38,705
[Journalist]
People are still afraid of him,

391
00:20:38,789 --> 00:20:40,362
even though he isn't there.

392
00:20:40,484 --> 00:20:41,642
Yes, that's normal.

393
00:20:41,727 --> 00:20:45,358
He still has his contacts outside.

394
00:20:46,329 --> 00:20:49,219
He is a very powerful person
with a lot of money.

395
00:20:49,630 --> 00:20:52,815
So you have to be very careful
what you say and what you do,

396
00:20:52,991 --> 00:20:54,909
because he will kill you
if he has to.

397
00:20:55,692 --> 00:20:57,530
It wouldn't keep him awake at night.

398
00:20:58,174 --> 00:21:00,208
[Narrator] A few months
after this interview,

399
00:21:00,293 --> 00:21:03,236
the Mocro mafia attacked
the highest level of the state.

400
00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,120
"Dutch Prime Minister threatened
by the cocaine industry.”

401
00:21:09,663 --> 00:21:13,223
"In the Netherlands, the threatening
shadow of the Mocro mafia.”

402
00:21:14,729 --> 00:21:16,205
Prime Minister, Mark Rutte,

403
00:21:16,289 --> 00:21:18,095
had just announced
that he was going to give

404
00:21:18,179 --> 00:21:21,817
an exceptional budget
of 430 million euros

405
00:21:21,902 --> 00:21:25,000
to help the police fight
against drug traffickers.

406
00:21:25,979 --> 00:21:29,203
It was after this announcement
that the police discovered

407
00:21:29,288 --> 00:21:32,485
that Mocro mafia spotters
had started to follow him.

408
00:21:33,989 --> 00:21:37,088
The politician who used to be close
to his fellow citizens,

409
00:21:37,173 --> 00:21:38,603
and travelled by bicycle,

410
00:21:38,939 --> 00:21:41,685
was immediately placed
under heavy protection.

411
00:21:41,824 --> 00:21:44,574
[dramatic music]

412
00:21:49,979 --> 00:21:51,737
To organize the counter attack,

413
00:21:51,822 --> 00:21:53,739
the Netherlands turned to Italy,

414
00:21:53,985 --> 00:21:56,135
a country that has become
an expert in the fight

415
00:21:56,219 --> 00:21:57,807
against the mafia.

416
00:21:57,989 --> 00:22:00,872
The Dutch Minister of Justice,
herself went to Rome.

417
00:22:05,238 --> 00:22:07,303
[voices chattering]

418
00:22:07,559 --> 00:22:08,468
For two days,

419
00:22:08,553 --> 00:22:11,585
she met with magistrates
and police officers specializing

420
00:22:11,669 --> 00:22:13,697
in the fight against
organized crime.

421
00:22:14,103 --> 00:22:16,467
She improvised
a press conference on the spot

422
00:22:16,552 --> 00:22:17,914
with the Dutch media.

423
00:22:19,159 --> 00:22:24,295
One wonders if we,
the Dutch citizens, are aware

424
00:22:24,624 --> 00:22:26,502
If we are aware

425
00:22:26,586 --> 00:22:31,054
that organised crime
has taken over our streets.

426
00:22:31,139 --> 00:22:32,713
But it is there!

427
00:22:32,797 --> 00:22:35,060
In the Netherlands, it would
be good to be less naive

428
00:22:35,426 --> 00:22:37,026
and to see that what

429
00:22:37,322 --> 00:22:39,002
is happening in Italy.

430
00:22:39,087 --> 00:22:41,134
is also happening in our streets.

431
00:22:41,813 --> 00:22:44,645
[Narrator] She was appointed
Minister of Justice & Security

432
00:22:44,729 --> 00:22:46,595
only a few months ago.

433
00:22:46,679 --> 00:22:50,015
At 45, she has become
the new face of the fight

434
00:22:50,099 --> 00:22:51,542
against the cocaine mafia.

435
00:22:53,789 --> 00:22:54,538
[Journalist] In Europe now,

436
00:22:54,622 --> 00:22:58,475
everybody discovers
the strongness of the narco mafia.

437
00:22:58,559 --> 00:23:00,815
Do you think that
the Netherlands is the frontline

438
00:23:00,899 --> 00:23:02,285
now in Europe?

439
00:23:02,369 --> 00:23:05,945
I think we are
because our open economy,

440
00:23:06,029 --> 00:23:09,486
and our excellent
infrastructure we have,

441
00:23:09,775 --> 00:23:13,771
which is great and beneficial
for the typical Dutchman,

442
00:23:13,855 --> 00:23:16,415
is also being abused by criminals.

443
00:23:16,499 --> 00:23:20,465
So we see that we are
an entrance towards Europe,

444
00:23:20,549 --> 00:23:24,095
and the rest of the world
of drugs coming in and going out.

445
00:23:24,179 --> 00:23:27,515
So that means
that if we want it or not,

446
00:23:27,599 --> 00:23:30,755
we are in front of this battle,

447
00:23:30,839 --> 00:23:32,435
which is also with our neighbours,

448
00:23:32,519 --> 00:23:34,175
with Belgium,
with France, with Spain,

449
00:23:34,259 --> 00:23:36,648
also with Germany and Italy.

450
00:23:36,732 --> 00:23:38,855
[Journalist] You're going
to fight against them.

451
00:23:38,939 --> 00:23:40,505
Are you afraid?

452
00:23:40,589 --> 00:23:41,751
- Personally?
- [Journalist] Yeah.

453
00:23:41,835 --> 00:23:44,702
No. Then I should've
chosen another job.

454
00:23:46,199 --> 00:23:46,948
[Journalist] Some people say,

455
00:23:47,032 --> 00:23:50,448
and some ministers say
that the Netherlands could become

456
00:23:50,532 --> 00:23:51,485
a narco state.

457
00:23:51,569 --> 00:23:52,772
What do you think of that?

458
00:23:52,856 --> 00:23:58,518
No, that would mean that
politicians are being paid

459
00:23:58,603 --> 00:24:00,785
by drug criminals
which is not the case.

460
00:24:00,869 --> 00:24:01,895
[Journalist] Not the case?

461
00:24:01,979 --> 00:24:04,205
Definitely not. Definitely not.

462
00:24:04,289 --> 00:24:05,409
Thank you so much.

463
00:24:07,049 --> 00:24:09,155
[Narrator] But while
the Netherlands is taking steps

464
00:24:09,239 --> 00:24:10,385
to counter attack,

465
00:24:10,469 --> 00:24:13,616
the Mocro mafia has already
found a new target,

466
00:24:13,899 --> 00:24:14,849
Belgium.

467
00:24:17,601 --> 00:24:19,775
The motorway between
Antwerp and Rotterdam

468
00:24:19,859 --> 00:24:22,218
is nicknamed the "Drugs Motorway."

469
00:24:22,559 --> 00:24:24,635
This is one of the routes
used by traffickers

470
00:24:24,719 --> 00:24:27,340
to flood the European market
with cocaine.

471
00:24:27,425 --> 00:24:30,758
[police radio chatters]

472
00:24:31,979 --> 00:24:35,255
In an unmarked vehicle,
Thierry is on the lookout.

473
00:24:35,339 --> 00:24:38,195
He belongs to the mobile
gendarmerie brigade.

474
00:24:38,286 --> 00:24:41,139
It's mission: to
intercept suspicious cars.

475
00:24:41,659 --> 00:24:46,150
We're going to be looking more
specifically at BMWs, Audis

476
00:24:46,235 --> 00:24:49,189
and other fast cars.

477
00:24:49,572 --> 00:24:51,751
[indistinct chatter]

478
00:24:52,019 --> 00:24:53,945
Suddenly he has a catch.

479
00:24:54,029 --> 00:24:55,490
A car is suspicious.

480
00:24:57,546 --> 00:24:59,725
[indistinct chatter]

481
00:25:01,211 --> 00:25:02,778
What is it that jumps out at you?

482
00:25:03,460 --> 00:25:04,765
Driver behaviour.

483
00:25:05,749 --> 00:25:08,166
A little wary, a little nervous.

484
00:25:08,892 --> 00:25:11,855
Just a feeling:
the way he looks at me when he passes.

485
00:25:13,050 --> 00:25:15,595
In a few seconds,
he catches up with the car.

486
00:25:20,543 --> 00:25:23,544
The Skoda here.
We follow a black VW Polo...

487
00:25:26,581 --> 00:25:28,081
Thierry was right.

488
00:25:30,715 --> 00:25:33,369
The vehicle is already known
for transporting drugs.

489
00:25:34,225 --> 00:25:37,174
The car is escorted into
a motorway service area.

490
00:25:37,799 --> 00:25:38,585
On that day,

491
00:25:38,669 --> 00:25:41,495
the federal police and
Belgian customs joined forces

492
00:25:41,579 --> 00:25:43,355
for a major operation.

493
00:25:43,439 --> 00:25:46,385
They're increasing the number
of checks and they search

494
00:25:46,469 --> 00:25:48,635
all the cars one after the other.

495
00:25:48,719 --> 00:25:51,842
This morning, most of the seizures
involved cannabis.

496
00:25:53,551 --> 00:25:54,816
What did you find?

497
00:25:56,983 --> 00:25:58,920
A bag of marijuana.

498
00:26:00,209 --> 00:26:02,765
But also more unusual products,

499
00:26:02,849 --> 00:26:05,285
like these bottles of laughing gas.

500
00:26:05,369 --> 00:26:08,705
And in the late afternoon,
the police hit the jackpot.

501
00:26:08,789 --> 00:26:10,712
Thanks to this special van.

502
00:26:12,175 --> 00:26:14,675
[siren beeps]

503
00:26:15,899 --> 00:26:19,235
Inside a mobile scanner
allows the cars to be examined

504
00:26:19,319 --> 00:26:21,995
in real time and to find
what could be hidden

505
00:26:22,079 --> 00:26:23,252
under the bodywork.

506
00:26:24,923 --> 00:26:30,732
This is the light around
the car and above...

507
00:26:32,279 --> 00:26:35,165
Below the light box, a suspicious bag,

508
00:26:35,249 --> 00:26:38,762
locked in a secret cache
invisible to the naked eye,

509
00:26:41,587 --> 00:26:43,795
We need to find the bag...
How does it open...

510
00:26:44,129 --> 00:26:47,739
Bart Vertessen heads
the federal police's anti-drug unit.

511
00:26:47,823 --> 00:26:49,467
And in ten years of service,

512
00:26:49,551 --> 00:26:53,162
he has learned to outwit
the ingenuity of traffickers.

513
00:26:57,306 --> 00:26:59,423
You have to turn on the engine,

514
00:27:00,088 --> 00:27:01,540
you have to put the defrost on,

515
00:27:02,081 --> 00:27:04,120
you have to turn on the ignition

516
00:27:04,605 --> 00:27:06,725
with a little screw that is here.

517
00:27:08,617 --> 00:27:11,181
And then the second boot opens.

518
00:27:13,535 --> 00:27:15,074
With the cover fitted.

519
00:27:16,619 --> 00:27:21,309
Inside in a simple plastic bag,
two kilos of pure cocaine.

520
00:27:21,554 --> 00:27:22,804
A small fortune.

521
00:27:27,215 --> 00:27:28,869
What is the market value of this?

522
00:27:28,954 --> 00:27:33,335
€50 per gram, you can
do the maths yourself,

523
00:27:33,874 --> 00:27:37,405
the guy won't sleep well tonight.

524
00:27:40,319 --> 00:27:42,965
This trafficker,
a Dutchman of Moroccan origin,

525
00:27:43,049 --> 00:27:45,935
has just lost a hundred thousand euros.

526
00:27:46,019 --> 00:27:48,335
He was coming from Rotterdam
and was to deliver

527
00:27:48,419 --> 00:27:49,922
the cocaine to Brussels.

528
00:27:52,439 --> 00:27:56,175
In 2021, Belgium became
a new cocaine hub.

529
00:27:56,669 --> 00:27:57,418
That year,

530
00:27:57,502 --> 00:28:00,160
the Belgian federal police
succeeded in decrypting

531
00:28:00,245 --> 00:28:03,373
thousands of messages
exchanged by traffickers.

532
00:28:05,279 --> 00:28:08,885
In a fortnight, they conducted
more than 200 searches,

533
00:28:08,969 --> 00:28:13,352
seized 17 tons of cocaine
and 1 million euros in cash.

534
00:28:14,909 --> 00:28:18,095
It was the Belgian federal prosecutor
himself who announced

535
00:28:18,179 --> 00:28:20,582
the extent of
the phenomenon on the news.

536
00:28:21,054 --> 00:28:23,470
The vast majority of
the messages we intercepted

537
00:28:23,555 --> 00:28:25,325
were related to drug trafficking.

538
00:28:25,409 --> 00:28:27,676
And we discovered a shocking world

539
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:29,676
with huge amounts of money.

540
00:28:30,362 --> 00:28:32,829
Just the 17 tons
of cocaine we seized

541
00:28:32,913 --> 00:28:36,198
lost them 2 billion in three weeks.

542
00:28:37,674 --> 00:28:40,445
At the Brussels courthouse,
federal prosecutor,

543
00:28:40,529 --> 00:28:43,308
Frederick Van Leeuw,
agreed to meet us.

544
00:28:43,559 --> 00:28:46,415
He still can't believe
the amount of money generated

545
00:28:46,499 --> 00:28:47,792
by the cocaine trade.

546
00:28:52,998 --> 00:28:56,006
There are sums of money
at stake that sometimes

547
00:28:56,090 --> 00:28:58,267
approach the budgets
of certain states,

548
00:28:58,411 --> 00:29:00,713
And with these billions of euros,

549
00:29:01,295 --> 00:29:05,992
a whole circuit of
corruption is set up,

550
00:29:06,771 --> 00:29:09,140
and then the lives no
longer cost anything.

551
00:29:10,439 --> 00:29:11,975
The Belgian police have discovered

552
00:29:12,059 --> 00:29:14,636
a new type of crime
that they're not used to,

553
00:29:15,020 --> 00:29:18,067
gangs fighting for control over
the cocaine trade,

554
00:29:18,530 --> 00:29:19,337
murders,

555
00:29:19,422 --> 00:29:22,205
settling of scores,
Kalashnikov shootings,

556
00:29:22,289 --> 00:29:24,845
and even grenade throwing
as in this footage

557
00:29:24,929 --> 00:29:27,796
captured by a surveillance camera
in the city centre.

558
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,311
We have gone from organised crime
that tends to hide,

559
00:29:39,396 --> 00:29:42,064
to live happily let's live hidden,

560
00:29:42,148 --> 00:29:44,548
let's make money without being seen,

561
00:29:44,633 --> 00:29:46,961
to organised crime

562
00:29:47,688 --> 00:29:49,621
that wants to scare and wants

563
00:29:49,705 --> 00:29:52,453
to take over through violence.

564
00:29:53,408 --> 00:29:55,342
These are situations that are

565
00:29:55,426 --> 00:29:57,285
completely corrupting Latin America

566
00:29:57,370 --> 00:30:00,565
and certain countries
that are becoming states

567
00:30:00,650 --> 00:30:02,873
that are almost run by
drug traffickers or, in any case,

568
00:30:02,958 --> 00:30:05,913
the drug traffickers
have enormous influence.

569
00:30:06,467 --> 00:30:09,162
Honestly, this is a situation
that we must absolutely avoid here.

570
00:30:10,499 --> 00:30:13,499
And today it's the city of
Antwerp that particularly

571
00:30:13,583 --> 00:30:15,605
worries the authorities.

572
00:30:15,689 --> 00:30:17,525
Located in the north of the country,

573
00:30:17,609 --> 00:30:19,952
15 kilometres from the Dutch border,

574
00:30:21,921 --> 00:30:24,956
Antwerp, the second largest
port in Europe.

575
00:30:25,169 --> 00:30:28,034
A gigantic industrial zone
that has become

576
00:30:28,119 --> 00:30:30,252
the Mocro mafia's new playground.

577
00:30:34,079 --> 00:30:37,325
A headache for
the Belgian customs offices.

578
00:30:37,409 --> 00:30:39,545
They are housed
in this large, dark building,

579
00:30:39,629 --> 00:30:40,879
in the heart of the port.

580
00:30:43,953 --> 00:30:45,725
The fight against
cocaine trafficking

581
00:30:45,809 --> 00:30:47,612
has become their main task.

582
00:30:50,339 --> 00:30:51,402
A tough challenge,

583
00:30:51,487 --> 00:30:53,915
checking the 12 million containers
that pass through

584
00:30:53,999 --> 00:30:55,172
the port each year.

585
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,342
Kristian Vanderwaeren is
the federal director of customs.

586
00:31:03,417 --> 00:31:08,537
We now go to where the truck enters
the verification site.

587
00:31:09,539 --> 00:31:12,075
In this war, he has a secret weapon.

588
00:31:12,479 --> 00:31:15,452
Every day, customs officers
select containers,

589
00:31:15,689 --> 00:31:18,869
and they direct them into
this long concrete box,

590
00:31:19,139 --> 00:31:21,755
in reality, a giant scanner.

591
00:31:21,839 --> 00:31:24,362
Within a few minutes,
the load is x-rayed.

592
00:31:31,371 --> 00:31:34,168
How many trucks are scanned each day?

593
00:31:34,324 --> 00:31:39,597
It can go up to
70 to 80 containers a day here.

594
00:31:41,279 --> 00:31:43,205
Customs officers select containers

595
00:31:43,289 --> 00:31:44,855
according to their origin,

596
00:31:44,939 --> 00:31:47,885
the goods declared
or sometimes information,

597
00:31:47,969 --> 00:31:50,015
provided by the police.

598
00:31:50,099 --> 00:31:52,442
The scans are then analysed
in the offices.

599
00:31:53,518 --> 00:31:56,268
[dramatic music]

600
00:31:56,425 --> 00:32:01,233
You see the scan is done from the side,
these are olives that were in there.

601
00:32:01,602 --> 00:32:03,276
And here you see the image

602
00:32:03,361 --> 00:32:07,821
there is the possibility
to go into more detail and check here:

603
00:32:08,015 --> 00:32:11,135
is there anything abnormal in there.

604
00:32:12,809 --> 00:32:15,515
Nothing to report in this container,

605
00:32:15,599 --> 00:32:18,833
but the director is keen
to show us the ingenuity

606
00:32:18,918 --> 00:32:21,186
of the traffickers
on a previous seizure.

607
00:32:21,271 --> 00:32:23,599
It's in a refrigerated container.

608
00:32:23,683 --> 00:32:26,868
Here it is not normal
that there is a wafer like this.

609
00:32:26,953 --> 00:32:31,143
In this case,
the cocaine was incorporated

610
00:32:31,330 --> 00:32:35,005
into the structure
of the container.

611
00:32:35,819 --> 00:32:39,272
The scan can also indicate
how deep the cocaine is hidden.

612
00:32:40,576 --> 00:32:44,705
You see here that the colour,
the density is different.

613
00:32:44,789 --> 00:32:50,798
And based on that, the analysts
give instructions to the auditors

614
00:32:50,882 --> 00:32:56,206
that they have to go that many metres
inside to find the drug.

615
00:32:57,449 --> 00:32:59,165
In this refrigerated lorry,

616
00:32:59,249 --> 00:33:02,897
customs officers only found
about a hundred kilos of cocaine.

617
00:33:03,419 --> 00:33:06,500
But in 2020,
they made a record seizure,

618
00:33:06,839 --> 00:33:09,445
thanks to information
gathered by the police.

619
00:33:09,839 --> 00:33:13,715
Eleven tons of pure cocaine
discovered in a single container,

620
00:33:13,799 --> 00:33:17,260
a total value of 450 million euros.

621
00:33:17,344 --> 00:33:20,094
[dramatic music]

622
00:33:22,218 --> 00:33:25,626
Never before in the world
has so much cocaine

623
00:33:25,711 --> 00:33:28,078
been found in a single container.

624
00:33:29,219 --> 00:33:33,469
Here, cocaine seizures have
increased 30 fold in ten years.

625
00:33:33,929 --> 00:33:36,238
Three tons in 2013,

626
00:33:36,430 --> 00:33:38,293
90 tons last year.

627
00:33:38,729 --> 00:33:41,765
And customs officials estimate
that this would represent

628
00:33:41,849 --> 00:33:45,452
barely 10% of the drugs
that actually enter the country.

629
00:33:50,867 --> 00:33:54,962
In Antwerp, one man knows
all the secrets of the port.

630
00:33:56,615 --> 00:33:58,926
He met us at a cafe
in the city centre.

631
00:33:59,579 --> 00:34:02,135
It's hard to imagine
this man was at the heart

632
00:34:02,219 --> 00:34:04,621
of drug trafficking in the 2000s.

633
00:34:05,069 --> 00:34:08,105
When they asked me,
"What is the best job for me?"

634
00:34:08,189 --> 00:34:09,575
Then I say "Smuggler."

635
00:34:09,659 --> 00:34:11,540
'Cause everything is
inside in that time,

636
00:34:11,625 --> 00:34:14,341
especially because the parties,
the money,

637
00:34:14,512 --> 00:34:19,038
but also how you say,
the pressure,

638
00:34:19,122 --> 00:34:20,327
it's exciting.

639
00:34:21,419 --> 00:34:24,215
[Narrator] Paul Meyer was
the head of a smuggling ring.

640
00:34:24,299 --> 00:34:27,035
He was paid by traffickers
to bring their cargo of drugs

641
00:34:27,119 --> 00:34:29,343
safely into the Port of Antwerp.

642
00:34:29,699 --> 00:34:31,832
Twenty years of criminal life.

643
00:34:34,979 --> 00:34:36,965
I know that people don't hear this,

644
00:34:37,049 --> 00:34:38,675
they don't want to hear this,

645
00:34:38,759 --> 00:34:41,307
and they want to see somebody
who is saying now,

646
00:34:41,604 --> 00:34:45,965
that I'm sad and I don't do it again,
but I'm honest.

647
00:34:46,049 --> 00:34:48,515
It was a beautiful time.
It was a really beautiful time.

648
00:34:48,599 --> 00:34:50,495
Okay, the product is not nice.

649
00:34:50,579 --> 00:34:53,136
I agree.
I don't discuss also about that.

650
00:34:53,279 --> 00:34:58,000
So yes, I don't like it,
but I miss the trafficking,

651
00:34:58,084 --> 00:35:00,395
all the things around smuggling.

652
00:35:00,479 --> 00:35:01,472
Yes, I miss.

653
00:35:02,339 --> 00:35:03,963
[Journalist] How much
money did you make?

654
00:35:04,047 --> 00:35:05,464
A lot of money.

655
00:35:06,651 --> 00:35:08,688
A lot of money. Every five weeks.

656
00:35:08,899 --> 00:35:10,775
The turnover was 21 million,

657
00:35:10,859 --> 00:35:14,909
between 21 and 25 million euro
every five weeks.

658
00:35:15,544 --> 00:35:18,111
And we make a lot of money.
Yes, we make a lot of money.

659
00:35:19,177 --> 00:35:20,765
[Narrator] According to the courts,

660
00:35:20,849 --> 00:35:24,720
he and his associates earned
more than 700 million euros

661
00:35:25,103 --> 00:35:27,695
before the Belgian police
caught up with them.

662
00:35:27,779 --> 00:35:31,264
In 2007, he was arrested
in Bangkok, Thailand,

663
00:35:31,349 --> 00:35:34,384
and then extradited to Belgium
where he was sentenced

664
00:35:34,469 --> 00:35:35,822
to ten years in prison.

665
00:35:38,189 --> 00:35:40,205
Today he's a free man.

666
00:35:40,289 --> 00:35:42,485
He claims
he has gone into construction.

667
00:35:42,569 --> 00:35:44,405
But has forgotten nothing of the tricks

668
00:35:44,489 --> 00:35:47,285
he used to foil
the customs officers.

669
00:35:47,369 --> 00:35:50,672
According to him,
the Port of Antwerp is a sieve.

670
00:35:52,165 --> 00:35:53,495
[Paul] Yeah. Here you can see here.

671
00:35:53,580 --> 00:35:57,612
All this is...
You see the water here is the port.

672
00:35:57,901 --> 00:36:00,512
It's incredibly big till Holland.

673
00:36:01,559 --> 00:36:05,106
[Narrator] Next to the historic centre
of Antwerp, the port.

674
00:36:05,308 --> 00:36:09,693
It is huge,
covering 135 square kilometres.

675
00:36:09,778 --> 00:36:12,528
[dramatic music]

676
00:36:15,509 --> 00:36:16,578
Okay...

677
00:36:17,765 --> 00:36:19,893
Now here you can see...

678
00:36:20,068 --> 00:36:21,391
You just can go inside.

679
00:36:23,489 --> 00:36:25,347
Normally you cannot drive here.

680
00:36:25,826 --> 00:36:27,264
Now you can see yourself

681
00:36:27,349 --> 00:36:30,333
how easily that you can come
with your car...

682
00:36:32,161 --> 00:36:33,253
till the boat.

683
00:36:34,567 --> 00:36:35,444
And I mean,

684
00:36:35,528 --> 00:36:38,015
this is a big difference with
Rotterdam or the closed ports.

685
00:36:38,099 --> 00:36:39,752
This is a open port.

686
00:36:41,129 --> 00:36:42,665
[Narrator] Unlike the Port of Rotterdam

687
00:36:42,749 --> 00:36:45,669
which is completely fenced
off and closed to the public,

688
00:36:45,779 --> 00:36:48,755
you can walk the length and breadth
of the Port of Antwerp

689
00:36:48,839 --> 00:36:51,575
and easily access
the container storage areas

690
00:36:51,659 --> 00:36:53,372
that are normally off limits.

691
00:36:54,653 --> 00:36:58,175
Now, I told you,
look you can see it yourself.

692
00:36:58,259 --> 00:37:01,912
It's easy to drive here
and nobody is saying something.

693
00:37:03,037 --> 00:37:07,505
And when they want to organize this
to close this gate...

694
00:37:07,589 --> 00:37:08,885
Look here...

695
00:37:08,969 --> 00:37:09,965
the wood.

696
00:37:10,049 --> 00:37:13,292
Now, 80% from the wood
is coming from there.

697
00:37:14,092 --> 00:37:17,554
I think from countries
like Brazil or Peru,

698
00:37:17,639 --> 00:37:18,992
Brazil or whatever.

699
00:37:20,129 --> 00:37:22,895
[Narrator] The wood comes
mainly from Latin America,

700
00:37:22,979 --> 00:37:24,665
as does the cocaine.

701
00:37:24,749 --> 00:37:27,395
This type of cargo is
therefore the ideal hideout

702
00:37:27,479 --> 00:37:28,685
for traffickers.

703
00:37:28,769 --> 00:37:30,785
We were able to access
the containers

704
00:37:30,869 --> 00:37:34,115
without any control
for over half an hour.

705
00:37:34,199 --> 00:37:37,595
We walk around sensitive
and normally off-limit areas

706
00:37:37,679 --> 00:37:39,452
without anyone stopping us.

707
00:37:42,002 --> 00:37:43,925
This is a boat from South America.

708
00:37:44,009 --> 00:37:45,005
So when you are clever,

709
00:37:45,089 --> 00:37:47,135
you book your containers
inside there.

710
00:37:47,219 --> 00:37:50,596
It's easy when you have
this information now,

711
00:37:50,908 --> 00:37:53,495
and then you know that
this boat is coming back here.

712
00:37:53,579 --> 00:37:56,075
So you need people here,
or you don't need somebody,

713
00:37:56,159 --> 00:37:59,094
somebody put containers out
and simple.

714
00:37:59,645 --> 00:38:00,707
It's not difficult.

715
00:38:02,149 --> 00:38:03,905
[Narrator] And to get this information,

716
00:38:03,989 --> 00:38:06,545
it's sometimes enough to simply
talk to the dockers

717
00:38:06,629 --> 00:38:08,558
and seafarers who are on the key.

718
00:38:12,901 --> 00:38:15,621
Hi, do you work here?

719
00:38:16,911 --> 00:38:21,568
No, I've got my boat tied up over there.
Do you need anything?

720
00:38:21,741 --> 00:38:26,318
No, we are trying to understand
why the port of Antwerp is so open

721
00:38:26,544 --> 00:38:28,974
and why you can drive to the ship.

722
00:38:29,058 --> 00:38:33,578
Normally, you have
to announce yourself to the guard...

723
00:38:33,838 --> 00:38:39,675
Yes, but I went all the way
around to the Panama boat

724
00:38:39,772 --> 00:38:42,150
and nobody asked me any questions. Nobody!

725
00:38:42,235 --> 00:38:44,250
Is the Panama boat yours?

726
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:48,569
No, I'm moored just behind. A big tanker.

727
00:38:48,699 --> 00:38:50,410
- Okay.
- Tanker.

728
00:38:51,124 --> 00:38:55,624
[person speaking in foreign language]

729
00:38:55,965 --> 00:38:58,317
Seemingly a harmless conversation.

730
00:38:58,679 --> 00:39:02,128
But for a smuggler,
a valuable source of information.

731
00:39:02,579 --> 00:39:03,815
Okay, it's in my language,

732
00:39:03,899 --> 00:39:07,715
but you can see how easy
you can talk with people.

733
00:39:07,799 --> 00:39:09,185
He explained me everything.

734
00:39:09,269 --> 00:39:14,052
He give me also other places
here in Antwerp, in the port,

735
00:39:14,519 --> 00:39:16,415
where you can go also with your car.

736
00:39:16,500 --> 00:39:19,457
So I mean,
information is easy to get here.

737
00:39:21,260 --> 00:39:23,979
I only opened my window
and I ask something.

738
00:39:25,709 --> 00:39:28,731
And I didn't pay him
for that information, so...

739
00:39:32,789 --> 00:39:35,405
[Narrator] Corruption in the port
is said to be rampant.

740
00:39:35,489 --> 00:39:38,735
In 2021, the discovery
by the Belgian police,

741
00:39:38,819 --> 00:39:42,075
of thousands of encrypted
conversations between traffickers

742
00:39:42,224 --> 00:39:44,404
revealed the extent of the scourge.

743
00:39:44,969 --> 00:39:48,485
Customs, police, shipping companies,
transport companies,

744
00:39:48,569 --> 00:39:50,315
security agencies.

745
00:39:50,399 --> 00:39:52,232
The cocaine mafia has infiltrated

746
00:39:52,316 --> 00:39:54,909
the entire port infrastructure.

747
00:39:55,229 --> 00:39:57,302
Their main target, dockers.

748
00:40:03,059 --> 00:40:06,182
We went to the bars in the port
where they are said to meet,

749
00:40:06,700 --> 00:40:10,580
with a hidden camera
as the subject is sensitive here.

750
00:40:11,369 --> 00:40:13,272
[Journalist]
I hear a lot about corruption.

751
00:40:13,468 --> 00:40:14,975
How does it work?

752
00:40:15,059 --> 00:40:16,835
I mean, is there people coming to you,

753
00:40:16,919 --> 00:40:18,902
and ask you for some money?

754
00:40:19,350 --> 00:40:21,965
They try to get your name.

755
00:40:22,354 --> 00:40:26,572
And when you don't cooperate with them,
they threaten you.

756
00:40:29,314 --> 00:40:33,638
And they attack you or your family.
It is a dangerous business.

757
00:40:35,482 --> 00:40:39,612
You better stay out of it.
You better stay out of this business.

758
00:40:42,111 --> 00:40:43,798
When you're in it,

759
00:40:46,482 --> 00:40:48,511
it's very difficult to get out.

760
00:40:49,881 --> 00:40:51,686
Do you know people?

761
00:40:57,599 --> 00:41:01,412
And do you think it's possible
I can get in touch with some?

762
00:41:02,915 --> 00:41:03,748
No?

763
00:41:03,833 --> 00:41:05,522
I think you'd better not do that.

764
00:41:06,628 --> 00:41:08,299
Watch out what you’re doing.

765
00:41:09,239 --> 00:41:10,715
[Narrator] The dockers know the risks

766
00:41:10,799 --> 00:41:12,242
of revealing too much.

767
00:41:13,955 --> 00:41:19,564
I know someone
who has faced this problem.

768
00:41:20,299 --> 00:41:22,831
The police caught him.

769
00:41:23,948 --> 00:41:29,853
They put him and two
of his colleagues behind bars.

770
00:41:33,103 --> 00:41:37,964
And normally you are
in detention for months.

771
00:41:40,859 --> 00:41:43,299
Do you think he spoke?

772
00:41:44,697 --> 00:41:47,235
Six months later, he was...

773
00:41:50,849 --> 00:41:52,623
These threats are so frequent

774
00:41:52,708 --> 00:41:55,745
that the main dock workers union
made a prevention clip

775
00:41:55,829 --> 00:41:58,175
to alert their members
to the risks they take

776
00:41:58,259 --> 00:41:59,702
when working for the mafia.

777
00:42:03,225 --> 00:42:06,879
Hi Ben, do you want to make money?
You want to buy a nice car?

778
00:42:06,964 --> 00:42:08,230
What should I do?

779
00:42:08,315 --> 00:42:12,033
Nothing special. Just move a container.

780
00:42:13,169 --> 00:42:16,052
The clip features a smuggler
who bribes a docker.

781
00:42:17,072 --> 00:42:18,694
Is it dangerous?

782
00:42:19,030 --> 00:42:21,838
No, if you don't want to do it,
we'll find someone else.

783
00:42:22,128 --> 00:42:24,854
But you'll miss out on €25,000.

784
00:42:25,075 --> 00:42:27,054
Here's small advance, okay?

785
00:42:27,198 --> 00:42:28,385
Yes, okay.

786
00:42:28,526 --> 00:42:30,198
All right.

787
00:42:31,139 --> 00:42:32,824
The clip alerts the dockers,

788
00:42:33,015 --> 00:42:36,925
once they get involved,
it's almost impossible to get out.

789
00:42:37,010 --> 00:42:38,623
I thought we could count on you!

790
00:42:38,732 --> 00:42:42,402
You're kidding!
You have a nice family.

791
00:42:43,259 --> 00:42:45,822
Maybe we could visit them...

792
00:42:49,349 --> 00:42:50,307
For the traffickers,

793
00:42:50,392 --> 00:42:52,941
the dockers are
an essential cog in the wheel.

794
00:42:53,189 --> 00:42:56,102
They are the ones who have control
over the containers.

795
00:42:57,989 --> 00:43:01,922
Niels worked for 10 years on the docks.
Today he's retired.

796
00:43:03,029 --> 00:43:07,080
[Niels] My job was to lift
containers from the ship.

797
00:43:07,626 --> 00:43:11,945
I operated mobile cranes,
container cranes and stackers.

798
00:43:12,029 --> 00:43:15,785
That means the big machines
that take the containers

799
00:43:15,869 --> 00:43:16,862
from A to B.

800
00:43:18,059 --> 00:43:19,835
[Narrator]
Usually on a ship like this,

801
00:43:19,919 --> 00:43:22,625
the drugs are concentrated
in one container,

802
00:43:22,709 --> 00:43:24,605
and the traffickers have to isolate it

803
00:43:24,690 --> 00:43:27,613
from the rest of the cargo
in order to gain access.

804
00:43:28,169 --> 00:43:31,772
Niels was approached several times,
but always refused.

805
00:43:34,987 --> 00:43:36,192
[Niels] A guy said to me,

806
00:43:36,276 --> 00:43:38,705
"You have to put this container
on the site."

807
00:43:38,789 --> 00:43:39,602
That was a time that he said,

808
00:43:39,686 --> 00:43:41,555
"It has to be fixed, it's broken."

809
00:43:41,639 --> 00:43:45,845
And so I lift the containers
and underneath it was intact.

810
00:43:45,929 --> 00:43:48,025
So I said "Something wrong here."

811
00:43:48,521 --> 00:43:52,505
And if you apply to them,
they own you,

812
00:43:52,589 --> 00:43:54,297
and then they offer you some money.

813
00:43:54,381 --> 00:43:55,944
[Journalist]
And how much money can you make

814
00:43:56,028 --> 00:43:57,975
if you collaborate?

815
00:43:58,059 --> 00:44:00,487
[Niels] I heard amounts from 20,000,

816
00:44:00,571 --> 00:44:02,735
10,000, 20,000 euros, eh?

817
00:44:02,819 --> 00:44:05,654
Yeah, but once you get the 20K,

818
00:44:05,826 --> 00:44:09,125
the next time
you get 10K maybe or 5K,

819
00:44:09,209 --> 00:44:10,235
and you still have to do it.

820
00:44:10,319 --> 00:44:12,392
If you don't do it,
you're f**ked.

821
00:44:14,099 --> 00:44:15,305
[Narrator] More surprisingly,

822
00:44:15,389 --> 00:44:17,585
the traffickers have
found another way to bribe

823
00:44:17,669 --> 00:44:18,845
the dock workers.

824
00:44:18,929 --> 00:44:20,612
They pay them in cocaine.

825
00:44:22,169 --> 00:44:25,505
[Niels] Most of the young dockers
who are applied now,

826
00:44:25,589 --> 00:44:28,230
they use coke themselves
because they're not able to get

827
00:44:28,314 --> 00:44:31,636
the physical work
that the docker has to do.

828
00:44:31,721 --> 00:44:33,965
So they use coke
to be more f**ked up,

829
00:44:34,049 --> 00:44:37,326
to have more power to work.

830
00:44:37,410 --> 00:44:39,161
And the traffickers, they know that.

831
00:44:39,246 --> 00:44:42,359
So they pay the guys also in coke.

832
00:44:42,444 --> 00:44:44,615
They say, "Okay, if you do this,

833
00:44:44,699 --> 00:44:46,385
you get five grams," or this and that.

834
00:44:46,469 --> 00:44:49,985
Or they make them addicted to coke
and then they give 'em

835
00:44:50,069 --> 00:44:52,835
a small amount that they can
sell themselves or whatever.

836
00:44:52,919 --> 00:44:54,365
[Journalist] Do you think
that we still can fight

837
00:44:54,449 --> 00:44:55,862
against these traffickers?

838
00:44:57,989 --> 00:45:00,125
[Niels] It's a war nobody can win.

839
00:45:00,209 --> 00:45:01,309
Nobody can win it.

840
00:45:03,569 --> 00:45:04,355
[Narrator] In Antwerp,

841
00:45:04,439 --> 00:45:06,785
some neighbourhoods are
now completely plagued

842
00:45:06,869 --> 00:45:08,465
by drug trafficking.

843
00:45:08,549 --> 00:45:10,640
Cocaine arrives in such quantities

844
00:45:10,725 --> 00:45:12,905
that it's sold on the streets.

845
00:45:12,989 --> 00:45:16,653
A gram is the cheapest
in Europe, 40 euros,

846
00:45:17,106 --> 00:45:19,012
half the price than in Paris.

847
00:45:20,034 --> 00:45:22,525
Now we're going to go
to the red-light district,

848
00:45:23,315 --> 00:45:25,292
but we're going
to stay for 20 minutes,

849
00:45:25,491 --> 00:45:28,611
no longer because otherwise
it's going to get busy.

850
00:45:31,199 --> 00:45:33,473
Filip De Winter has been
a city counsellor

851
00:45:33,558 --> 00:45:36,515
and a member of parliament
for more than 20 years.

852
00:45:36,599 --> 00:45:40,085
He leads a Flemish nationalist party,
Vlaams Belang,

853
00:45:40,169 --> 00:45:42,084
which is classified as far right.

854
00:45:42,597 --> 00:45:43,933
- Hi, Filip!
- Hi.

855
00:45:44,018 --> 00:45:45,057
Is everything OK?

856
00:45:48,839 --> 00:45:51,515
He is a major figure
in Belgian politics,

857
00:45:51,599 --> 00:45:54,782
but he's only accompanied
by two bodyguards

858
00:45:55,198 --> 00:45:58,213
as the neighbourhood is in
the hands of the Mocro mafia.

859
00:45:58,813 --> 00:46:02,813
A drug dealer lives above me,
he has just been arrested.

860
00:46:03,009 --> 00:46:04,890
And his wife continues
to traffic in his place!

861
00:46:06,472 --> 00:46:09,024
It is a family business.

862
00:46:09,109 --> 00:46:11,030
We don't know what to do in these cases.

863
00:46:11,115 --> 00:46:14,135
Today he's one of the few politicians
willing to speak out

864
00:46:14,219 --> 00:46:16,616
publicly about the violence in Antwerp.

865
00:46:22,409 --> 00:46:25,595
He wants to show us a scene
filmed by a surveillance camera

866
00:46:25,679 --> 00:46:26,882
a few weeks earlier.

867
00:46:29,816 --> 00:46:31,925
[dramatic music]

868
00:46:32,009 --> 00:46:34,745
A man shoots his gun
at the front of a house,

869
00:46:34,829 --> 00:46:37,406
eight shots in the street.

870
00:46:37,702 --> 00:46:40,624
The shooter is not hiding,
takes his time,

871
00:46:40,734 --> 00:46:43,754
and surprisingly is
filmed by his accomplice

872
00:46:43,839 --> 00:46:45,242
with a mobile phone.

873
00:46:50,478 --> 00:46:56,618
There are incidents
like this every day.

874
00:46:58,548 --> 00:47:00,634
Shooting at houses.

875
00:47:01,586 --> 00:47:04,460
Attacks with grenades,
with Molotov cocktails.

876
00:47:04,545 --> 00:47:08,513
There were 37 this summer.
For 3 months.

877
00:47:08,946 --> 00:47:12,925
Almost every 2-3 days,
there is an attack.

878
00:47:13,287 --> 00:47:16,357
These areas have become mafia areas.

879
00:47:16,770 --> 00:47:19,292
It is really the mafia that rules.

880
00:47:20,729 --> 00:47:24,236
Tonight, Filip de Winter is
due to attend the city council.

881
00:47:24,539 --> 00:47:26,780
Drug trafficking is on the agenda.

882
00:47:27,428 --> 00:47:30,249
This is a sensitive subject
on which the mayor

883
00:47:30,334 --> 00:47:33,092
absolutely refuses to speak publicly.

884
00:47:36,089 --> 00:47:39,974
I tried several times
to question the mayor.

885
00:47:40,059 --> 00:47:42,280
Yes, he doesn't want to.

886
00:47:42,515 --> 00:47:45,275
Why do other public authorities,
other political actors...

887
00:47:45,359 --> 00:47:48,518
They do not want interviews
with journalists

888
00:47:48,602 --> 00:47:50,395
to show the truth
in their neighbourhoods.

889
00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:53,566
Because they think
it is bad publicity

890
00:47:53,651 --> 00:47:55,265
for the city of Antwerp.

891
00:47:56,042 --> 00:47:57,279
It's the Omerta.

892
00:47:59,088 --> 00:48:04,365
It reigns in Antwerp with everything
that happens with the drug mafia.

893
00:48:04,450 --> 00:48:08,330
Are some politicians afraid
to confront the issue?

894
00:48:08,668 --> 00:48:09,543
Of course.

895
00:48:09,700 --> 00:48:16,388
They are afraid because it is supposedly
bad publicity for our city,

896
00:48:16,473 --> 00:48:18,778
but they may also be afraid

897
00:48:19,083 --> 00:48:23,993
because there are threats,
intimidation...

898
00:48:25,318 --> 00:48:28,758
The mayor was intimidated.
Perhaps also from others.

899
00:48:28,893 --> 00:48:29,878
We don't know.

900
00:48:32,347 --> 00:48:35,558
I have also received threats,

901
00:48:36,411 --> 00:48:39,380
but we have to fight
them while we still can.

902
00:48:39,832 --> 00:48:42,875
[gentle music]

903
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:46,433
The city council takes place
in the historic centre of Antwerp

904
00:48:46,713 --> 00:48:49,548
in the majestic
16th century City Hall.

905
00:48:52,709 --> 00:48:54,588
A solemn, formal setting.

906
00:48:54,989 --> 00:48:56,918
But this does not stop
Filip de Winter

907
00:48:57,002 --> 00:48:59,012
from pounding his fist
on the table.

908
00:48:59,849 --> 00:49:02,950
He has just learned that some
of the majority counsellors

909
00:49:03,083 --> 00:49:05,225
have suggested that
since the war on drugs

910
00:49:05,309 --> 00:49:07,041
seems to be lost already,

911
00:49:07,126 --> 00:49:10,129
cocaine use should
simply be decriminalized,

912
00:49:11,849 --> 00:49:13,922
and that makes him angry.

913
00:49:15,209 --> 00:49:18,379
Drug use should be criminalised!

914
00:49:18,782 --> 00:49:22,838
For all those who use drugs
and sniff cocaine,

915
00:49:22,922 --> 00:49:27,414
or whatever,
as a recreational activity.

916
00:49:27,765 --> 00:49:30,927
You have to dare
to put a stop to it.

917
00:49:31,012 --> 00:49:35,501
Why don't we call on all the personalities
in Antwerp to say, and you first:

918
00:49:35,586 --> 00:49:40,039
"It has to stop." You have blood
on your hands if you use cocaine.

919
00:49:40,195 --> 00:49:42,162
Don't buy that cocaine anymore.

920
00:49:42,246 --> 00:49:44,731
You are helping
and supporting the drug mafia.

921
00:49:44,816 --> 00:49:48,836
You are directly responsible
for the violence if you use cocaine."

922
00:49:49,079 --> 00:49:51,905
The mayor does not want to enter
into the controversy

923
00:49:51,989 --> 00:49:53,885
of decriminalization.

924
00:49:53,969 --> 00:49:55,085
According to him,

925
00:49:55,169 --> 00:49:58,402
the city simply cannot win
this war on drugs alone.

926
00:49:58,588 --> 00:50:00,914
We have made specific efforts.

927
00:50:00,999 --> 00:50:03,363
We have created special
anti-drug units

928
00:50:03,448 --> 00:50:05,647
within the police
and they have been successful.

929
00:50:05,732 --> 00:50:07,725
And you can see it
in the crime figures.

930
00:50:07,810 --> 00:50:12,370
But organised crime is international,
and often run from the Netherlands.

931
00:50:12,455 --> 00:50:17,000
And we can't fight it
with just our municipal police.

932
00:50:17,909 --> 00:50:20,975
In Antwerp, cocaine trafficking
is estimated to be worth

933
00:50:21,059 --> 00:50:22,932
50 billion euros.

934
00:50:23,017 --> 00:50:26,290
This is the equivalent
of five times the city's budget.

935
00:50:27,209 --> 00:50:29,645
The drug traffickers
are now extremely rich.

936
00:50:29,729 --> 00:50:30,935
And as in Holland,

937
00:50:31,019 --> 00:50:34,323
they do not hesitate
to attack the state directly.

938
00:50:34,407 --> 00:50:37,157
[dramatic music]

939
00:50:38,129 --> 00:50:39,905
On the 24th of September,

940
00:50:39,989 --> 00:50:42,545
police in Brussels foiled
an attempt to kidnap

941
00:50:42,629 --> 00:50:44,555
the Minister of Justice.

942
00:50:44,639 --> 00:50:47,345
This member of the government
who had issued arrest warrants

943
00:50:47,429 --> 00:50:50,135
against Mocro mafia
leaders based in Dubai,

944
00:50:50,378 --> 00:50:54,890
now lives under heavy protection
in an undisclosed location.

945
00:50:56,230 --> 00:51:00,883
Let us be clear, if we give in
to the criminal as a society

946
00:51:01,109 --> 00:51:04,057
we will end up in
South American conditions,

947
00:51:04,142 --> 00:51:07,478
i.e. in a narco state
where the drug mafia

948
00:51:07,562 --> 00:51:10,036
is above the law and dictates everything.

949
00:51:10,121 --> 00:51:15,720
Fortunately this is not the case here.
And I'm sure it will never happen.

950
00:51:16,829 --> 00:51:19,895
Belgium and the Netherlands
may not be on the verge

951
00:51:19,980 --> 00:51:21,879
of becoming narco states yet,

952
00:51:22,440 --> 00:51:24,145
but one thing is certain,

953
00:51:24,584 --> 00:51:27,620
the cocaine mafia
has moved into Europe,

954
00:51:27,872 --> 00:51:30,029
and is more powerful than ever.

955
00:51:30,668 --> 00:51:33,082
[dramatic music]