The Netherlands has stepped up security for Prime Minister Mark Rutte after police received a report of a possible attack by drug traffickers. The information came from a Dutch newspaper with reference to well-informed sources, according to Reuters.
Although firearms-related violence is rare in the Netherlands, drug-related killings and violence have increased in recent years in the struggle for territorial division.
A government source, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed the information that appeared in the newspaper Telegraaf. The prime minister, who was asked by reporters to comment on the newspaper’s report, said: “Security and safety are issues that are never discussed in public.”
Rutte, whose conservative government has vowed to fight organized crime, has always had a low level of security since becoming prime minister 11 years ago.
The Hague residents often see him riding a bicycle to and from work and stop him to take a selfie or talk.
A symptom of growing violence in the drug trade was the murder of Dutch crime reporter Peter de Vries, who was shot dead in broad daylight in Amsterdam in July, months after taking on the role of adviser to a key witness in a major organized crime trial. After some time he died of his wounds. A former lawyer for a key witness was also killed near his home in Amsterdam in 2019.
Other threats against politicians are not uncommon. Since 2004, anti-Islamist opposition leader Geert Wilders has been forced to live in an unknown location and under guard due to constant threats of reprisals.
In recent months, several individuals have been fined or given short prison terms for threats against ministers and lawmakers, mostly related to government policies to combat the coronavirus.