• Amalia, the Dutch Crown Princess, was forced to give up her plans to reside in student housing due to security concerns.
• Criminals taking advantage of the nation’s lenient drug laws to smuggle tonnes of cocaine through Rotterdam.
• Security expert: “Organised crime seems out of control in the Netherlands”.

Amalia, the Dutch Crown Princess, was forced to give up her plans to reside in student housing due to security concerns, which on Friday sparked new worries about organised crime in the country.

Just weeks after the 18-year-old began attending Amsterdam University, King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima declared late Thursday that Amalia would have to remain within the castle.

Officials would to comment on specifics, but the action comes weeks after allegations that organised crime groups had referenced Amalia and Prime Minister Mark Rutte in correspondence, raising concerns about kidnappings.

The move, according to her mother, has “enormous ramifications” for her daughter and has surprised many in a nation where public personalities frequently move around with no security.

According to experts, it has increased concerns that the Netherlands is becoming into a “narco-state” in the wake of a high-profile string of convictions involving drug trafficking organisations.

“It’s about an 18-year-old girl who can’t have a student life because she’s apparently the target of the Mocro-mafia,” said Rick Evers, a Dutch reporter specialising in royal matters.

The Mocro-mafia, so named because of their Moroccan ancestry, are criminal organisations with a focus on Amsterdam’s emerging cocaine trade and the growing drug trade in the Netherlands.

When she started college last month, the Dutch heir to the throne was photographed beaming, and much was made of the fact that she intended to live in a dorm.

However, the Dutch monarch, 55, and queen, 51, made an unusually frank revelation when on a state visit to Sweden on Thursday, revealing that Amalia had been made to stay at the heavily guarded royal house in The Hague.

When asked how Amalia was doing in school, a visibly upset Queen Maxima responded, “You must have heard the news.”

“She can’t live in Amsterdam and she can’t really go outside (the palace)… It has enormous consequences on her life,” Maxima said.

Amalia’s condition was called “awful and disturbing” by Premier Rutte, who was frequently spotted on a bike around The Hague until recently.

He assured reporters on Friday, “Everything is being done to keep the crown princess secure.

Organized crime was referred to as a “basic concern” by Dutch Minister of Justice and Protection Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, who also stated that her government was “working hard day and night to secure her security.”

However, the news did not appear out of thin air.

One of the biggest newspapers in the Netherlands, De Telegraaf, claimed in September that Amalia and Rutte’s security had been greatly tightened.

It claimed that both had been mentioned in contacts between organised criminal figures, which might be a sign of planning for an assault or kidnapping.

The suspected “Mocro-Mafia” leader Ridouan Taghi is on trial in the Netherlands, and Dutch newspapers reported that his gang has been connected to a number of high-profile murders.

These people include renowned journalist Peter R. de Vries, who was fatally shot in a street in Amsterdam last year during the day, and Derk Wiersum, the witness’s defence attorney.

The results have confirmed concerns that Europe’s fifth-biggest economy was steadily edging closer to becoming a narco state, with criminals taking advantage of the nation’s lenient drug laws to smuggle tonnes of cocaine through Rotterdam, the continent’s largest port.

According to security expert Jelle van Buuren of the Leiden University, the authorities “are taking the threat around the princess very seriously.”

“It is rumoured that the threat comes from organised crime,” Van Buuren told AFP.

When the Dutch king and queen made the shocking news on Thursday, royal reporter Evers was present. He was also present when Amalia enrolled in university to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Politics, and Law.

“We saw there was a very large increase in the number of security guards, both visible and invisible with heavy weapons hidden in bags,” Evers said.

“It was a very abnormal and unusual situation,” he told AFP.

“Organised crime is now an important theme which seems out of control in the Netherlands.”

Also Read

King Charles concerned about the content of Prince Harry’s book

The coronation of Charles will take place at Westminster Abbey in London...