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Today, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) announced that it had transported 15 billion euros in gold bars, coins and banknotes on Dutch roads in the past four weeks. The Dutch stock of gold and banknotes was moved from the vault in Haarlem to the new Cash Center in Zeist.
What is involved in such a valuable transport, how do you secretly move so much money and gold and, above all, how do you ensure that as few people as possible know about it?
“Very simple. Just keep your mouth shut,” says Captain Stan Verberkt of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee soberly. Today he rode with the final transport from Haarlem to Zeist.
Keeping your mouth shut may seem simple, but such an operation is anything but. It takes months of preparation and cooperation between special units at the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, supported by the police and defense.
The images below show how the transport went:
These trucks secretly transported 15 billion in gold and cash
The entire operation was not that secret, says Coen Voormeulen, division director at DNB. “We did not publicize it and we deliberately kept a bit of a low profile. But it was not really a secret in the sense that no one was allowed to know,” says Voormeulen. “We don’t need the secrecy either, it’s just well secured.”
That security was led by the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, which had to transport about 200,000 kilos in the form of gold bars and coins, as well as notes worth about 4.5 billion euros. “Our units have been doing this for years, they are well equipped and prepared for anything,” says Verberkt.
It is also not the first time that the valuable stock has been moved. In November 2020, the gold bars and notes were moved from Amsterdam to Haarlem due to the renovation of the office in the capital. Then everything was even moved in one evening, this time it was spread over four weeks.
It was already known that the stocks of the DNB would be temporarily stored in the safes in Haarlem and would be moved again when the construction of the new DNB center in Zeist was completed.
In 2019, Nieuwsuur reporters were exceptionally allowed to take a look at the vaults of De Nederlandsche Bank:
These 14,000 gold bars are going on a journey
From equipment and armaments to vehicles and routes, nothing is left to chance. But of course such a column stands out. Verberkt saw people looking along the road, but they had no idea what was passing by. “Of course it is also noticeable. Four of those large trucks with all kinds of engines and cars in between.”
A flat tire, a tree that blows over or suddenly a car that blocks the road? “We have thought very carefully about which scenarios you can end up in. Everyone is 100 percent alert and, moreover, extremely well trained and equipped,” says Captain Verberkt.
Ultimate reserve
Those who missed the transport will not soon get another chance to see the impressive move: there are no plans to move the gold stock again. The new Cash Center in Zeist is highly secured and is perhaps the “highest secured building in the Netherlands”, says DNB’s divisional director.
The 14,000 gold bars will remain there until they are needed. Voormeulen: “The gold is the ultimate reserve if the entire financial system should run into problems and nothing is of value anymore. Then the gold is still worth a lot of money. We can then start again.”