Trunks full of money seized in Capelle

Police seized more than 2.5 million euros in drugs money during a raid of a commercial building in Capelle aan de Ijssel Tuesday. They also found weapons and ammunition.

Five men were arrested during the raid; four aged 24 to 42 from Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and a 49-year-old Belgian. Police say the building they raided had been rented by one of the suspect and furnished like a “money center”. There were bill counting machines in a room that was insulated to block the sounds the machines made.

Most of the money was found in the trunks of the cars the suspects were driving; in the Belgian’s car there was a sporting bag that contained €1 million, which he had probably collected from the building.

Another million was found in the trunk of another vehicle, owned by a 39-year Amsterdam. The money was in two bags, been hidden in a secret compartment between the trunk and the back seat. Another suspect, a 42-year-old man from Rotterdam, came walking in just as the raid was going on; he had €600,000 in a bag in his car.

The operation seemed properly armed for work in the drug trade; police found ammunition and two guns, one of them loaded and within easy reach in a desk drawer. The other was tucked away in the roof of the building. Police also found a bludgeon and a bulletproof vest. Police suspect the money was drug trade income and still had to be laundered.

The five suspects have meanwhile been led in front of a magistrate in Zwolle.