Reports of children as young as 10 or 12 being exploited by drug gangs have sparked Dutch authorities to investigate new techniques to “recruit them back” before they become hardened criminals.
Ahead of its recent elections, politicians had warned the Netherlands was in a battle against “narcoterrorism” with reports of a wave of cocaine imports from South America.
While the number of minors suspected of a crime in the Netherlands has dropped since 2015, police are seeing more violent crimes committed by younger people, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
In response, Gym owner Danny de Vries, a former “street kid” himself, is one of those involved in a Dutch attempt to try to rescue thousands of teenagers from pursuing a life of crime that is blamed on the record levels of drugs arriving in north-west Europe.
