The head of the detective department of the National police services agency has been named deputy director Serious Crime at Europol.

Tom Driessen, 52, is the first Dutchman named to the post at Europe's police service , which is based in The Hague. Before 2005, when he began heading the national detective department, Mr Driessen led investigations into the involvement of Surinam's military leadership in cocaine trafficking and drug trafficking between South American and the Netherlands.

Photo: Europol in The Hague (Flickr / eudyptula)