Booming Cocaine Trade Brings Violence to a Quiet Dutch Town

This is the final story in a three-part series about global shipping and the surge in drug trafficking. Read the first installment from Businessweek here and the second part here.

At around 3 a.m. on a cold and misty night in November 2020, a Molotov cocktail crashed through a downstairs window of a two-story brick house on the outskirts of the Dutch town of Hedel.

The shattering noise awoke Henri Seepers, who lived there with his brother Jan-Willem. Moments later a blast from a second explosive jolted him into a panic. He jumped out his upstairs window. Neighbors assured him his ...