Fireworks peddlers are using the same routes, drug smugglers to get their illegal goods into the Netherlands.
As chances of interception increase through the mail, distributors have been forced to find new ways to get the illegal versions of fireworks into the country, especially now through the holiday season. The change from mail-based to drug routes occurred after last year when police took down four Polish websites dealing in the contraband. Now, the fireworks are picked up abroad and sold out of car trunks, much like the traditional cannabis trade.
The news comes as police and municipalities have increasingly called for fireworks such as firecrackers and rockets to be banned entirely, given the frequency of injury, as well as the tendency to be used against law enforcement during times of mass gathering and celebration. So far, the national government has not taken any measures.
