The HARP team, a collaboration between the police, Customs, and the Public Prosecution Service, arrested a 30-year-old man without a permanent home on Monday, February 3, in Delft for violating the Opium Act. The man is suspected of intentionally sending narcotics through the mail to abroad. He was presented to the examining magistrate today and will remain in custody for another fourteen days.
On November 25, 2024, Customs intercepted a package during a check at a mail center in The Hague. Inside the package was a gray pouf containing a bag full of pink pills and white chunks. It turned out to be nearly two kilograms of MDMA. The drugs, with a street value of over 40,000 euros, were on their way to the United States.
Following the discovery, a criminal investigation was launched under the direction of a public prosecutor in The Hague. The investigation by the HARP team revealed the suspect and made it clear that the package had been mailed on November 20.
HARP Team
The HARP, Hit and Run Post team, was established in February 2024. The team is part of the National Expertise and Operations Unit (LX) of the police and focuses on tracking down and prosecuting criminals who send drugs by mail to abroad. Packages containing drugs being sent from the Netherlands to abroad are intercepted more frequently. The HARP is taking up the fight against this form of drug crime.