Police find million euros in cash, snare 3 in money laundering bust

Nearly a million euros in cash and designer clothing was seized by police last week in a money laundering investigation that led to the arrests of three men. Two of the men were taken into custody at gunpoint in an Amsterdam parking garage, police said.

Officers were patrolling the parking garage on the Pontsteiger in the Houthavens neighborhood in Amsterdam West when they saw two men acting suspiciously as they exited a vehicle. Police said the men were not able to explain why they were there that Thursday afternoon, and when officers approached the men's vehicle they "saw a bag with a great many banknotes."

The officers drew their firearms as the situation escalated, and the two men were taken into custody. The arrests prompted the raid of an Amsterdam home later that evening, where even more cash was found along with a firearm. A third suspect was arrested there.

"The next morning, officers also searched a house in Rotterdam and again found a lot of money and a large amount of expensive designer clothes," police said in a statement. Investigators were still trying to determine how the suspects came into possession of the cash, clothing and firearm.

The suspects include a 38-year-old Rotterdam man and a 19-year-old man from Assen. The other suspect is 48 with no known home address. All three were still in custody on Saturday on suspicion of money laundering, the police said.

Police did not say what led them to the Amsterdam West parking garage that day, but they did say that officers routinely monitor such locations. "This is done more often in consultation with managers of private garages in order to increase safety and combat crime," police said in a statement.