Thirteen arrested for exporting drugs to Scandinavia

The police arrested 12 people in the Netherlands for involvement in the production and export of drugs to Scandinavia. A 13th suspect was arrested in Peer, Belgium. The suspects are 12 men and a woman between the ages of 32 and 16 years. They were arrested on Monday, but the police only announced the arrests on Thursday.

The police searched buildings in Utrecht, Vleuten, Woerden, Maarssen, Houten, Almere, Waardenburg, Lopikerkapel and Aalsmeer. 

One of the suspects was caught at an ecstasy lab Maarssen. In that building the police found 26 kilograms of ecstasy pills, two machines that can make 18,700 pills per hour, and raw materials for the drug. While officers were seizing these items, a man showed up. He was arrested after a short chase in his home, which was also searched. A storage box containing 20 kilograms of MDMA and 12 thousand ecstasy pills was subsequently found. 

During the searches in the Netherlands, a total of almost a million euros in cash was found, as well as two firearms with ammunition and three alarm pistols. In Belgium 550 kilograms of MDMA crystals and four bags containing around 500 grams of cannabis tips were found. The police also confiscated trucks, luxury cars and a money counting machine. 

Two of the suspects were arrested at the request of the Swedish authorities. They requested the extradition of these suspects in connection with over 500 kilograms of drugs trafficked to Sweden earlier this year.