Jail time instead of a fine

The Rotterdam court has sentenced seven men to prison for three to five months. The defendants are all between the ages of 19 and 34. The sentencing is a novelty in jurisprudence. The men were suspected of trespassing the port of Rotterdam by climbing over gates and attempting to break open containers to extract valuable goods or drugs. These so called ´extractors´ are important  for maintaining the criminal network.

Last year, more than 72,000 kilos of coke with a street value of more than 5 billion euros was intercepted in the port of Rotterdam. More than four hundred people were arrested that year.

Until 1 January from this year, those engaging in these kinds of activities never received jail time. Instead they received a fine of 90 euros. Now they can get a maximum of 1 year in prison. The change in jurisprudence is an attempt to halt these kind of criminal activities.