Utrecht home with hidden tunnel system sold

A home in the Utrecht neighborhood of Lombok under which the police found a mysterious hidden tunnel system of some 18 meters long, was recently sold, the broker who handled the transaction said to the Telegraaf. According to the broker, the seller did not know about the secret passages and it is unclear whether the buyer does.

The police discovered the hidden tunnel system under the home on J.P. Coenstraat in April, after local residents reported a strange smell. The tunnels went underneath at least five homes and could be accessed through a crawlspace in the home. The fire department pumped water out of the tunnels, after which the Ministry of Defense's explosive disposal department searched them with a robot. The tunnels turned out to be empty and all end in dead-ends.

"Yes it seems that this is the house the police raided, but the seller did not report it to us", real estate agent Dylan Roozendaal of Makelaarsland said to the newspaper. He could not say whether the buyer was aware of the tunnel system when they put their offer in.

Who was behind the hidden passages and why they were dug is still a mystery. It was initially assumed that the tunnel system was used for criminal purposes, but the police did not find any evidence that this was the case, according to the newspaper. According to the then owner of the property, the home was rented to an expat who was not at home at the time of the raid. The woman in question never returned to the street, and it remains unclear whether she had anything to do with the tunnels.

The municipality of Utrecht filled the tunnels with sand. Whether they are still accessible through the recently sold property, the real estate agent could not say. According to the Telegraaf, the residents of the homes under which the tunnels run filed reports of vandalism with the police