A surprise raid on Monday rocked Amsterdam’s Albert Cuypmarkt, uncovering signs of human trafficking.
According to De Telegraaf, the Dutch Labour Inspectorate led the operation, with support from the police. The raid resulted in the discovery of four potential victims of human trafficking.
As reported by NU.nl, they didn’t have valid residence permits, and it’s suspected that they were not paid legally.
“Three of the four victims were handed over to the Immigration Service because they were not in an asylum procedure,” a spokesperson for the inspection tells NU.nl.
Human trafficking and money laundering investigated
The main target of the operation was a stallholder responsible for daily market setup, who is suspected of employing workers from India under unclear and possibly illegal conditions.
As NU.nl also reported, the stallholder himself hasn’t been arrested yet, as the investigation is still underway.
Authorities are also looking into possible money laundering. The Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) joined the raid to look over the stallholder’s finances.
Amsterdam municipality faces growing pressure
This case could spell trouble for Amsterdam city officials, who are responsible for overseeing the market.
The stallholder has been working at the market — right in the centre of the city — for the past three years. Many are now questioning how this slipped under the radar.
Back in 2022, after the previous stallholder went bankrupt, the city skipped a public bidding process and quickly chose a new vendor from Leiden through a short consultation.
That decision has been defended ever since, but with serious violations now under investigation, officials are facing growing pressure to explain how this was allowed to happen.
What do you think? Should the city have done more to supervise the market, or was this impossible to see coming?
