A customs officer at the port of Rotterdam was arrested last week after the discovery of 1,500kg of cocaine hidden among mangoes in a container from Brazil.
The arrest follows an internal investigation by Dutch police and customs officials into the customs officer who was suspected of being involved in illegal activity.
Drug seizures at northern European ports have risen sharply in recent years. In January, Belgian authorities announced they had seized a record haul of more than 50 tonnes of cocaine at the port of Antwerp in 2018, a 22 per cent rise on the previous year.
Belgium has overtaken Spain as the EU country reporting the biggest annual seizures of cocaine, and Antwerp is now thought to be the main point of entry for the drug from South America.
