Five arrested in massive police raid on drug labs

The police raided a dozen locations in Oost-Brabant, Limburg and Gelderland early on Wednesday morning as part of an ongoing investigation into the trade of chemicals and narcotics. Five suspects were arrested, the police said in a statement.

The raids started at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Police officers stormed homes and storage units in Geldrop, Helmond, Someren, Venlo, Venray, Nieuw Bergen and Velddriel. The police are still searching through these locations, and expect that this will take up a large part of the day. 

The suspects were arrested at the same time that the raids started. They are four men from Geldrop, aged 57, 52, 41 and 28 years old, and a 27-year-old from Venlo. The 52-year-old from Geldrop is considered the main suspect. He and the Venlo suspect were arrested by SWAT teams because the police received information that they may be armed and dangerous.

All five suspects are in restricted custody, which means that the only contact with the outside world they are allowed, is with their lawyer.