The Hague - XINHUA
The Dutch military police has arrested 7 Schiphol airport workers for smuggling cocaine into the Netherlands from central and South America, Dutch media reported on Tuesday. The Schiphol workers all worked for the same company. They are alleged to have taken out cocaine that had been hidden in planes and smuggled the drugs into the Netherlands. The Dutch police arrested 15 people in total; all were connected to the smuggling circuit. Nearly all of them live in Amsterdam, they have Dutch, Turkish and Colombian nationality and are aged between 23 and 65, news agency ANP reported. \"This has been a major hit for us,\" a spokesman of the military police said, adding: \"Schiphol airport employs more than 60,000 people and sometimes there are a few rotten apples between them. Smuggle has always occurred and will continue to occur in the future.\" Last year, twenty men were arrested for drugs smuggling through the luggage basement. In addition, in July three workers were arrested for stealing smartphones and other expensive devices. \"Schiphol is almost like a medium-sized city, so it would be an illusion to think that no crime occurs,\" the spokeswoman of Schiphol told local media.