€90,000 worth of laughing gas seized in Zuid-Holland town; Man arrested

The police seized more than 1,200 canisters of nitrous oxides from a building in the Zuid-Holland town of Nootdorp on Wednesday. According to the police, the laughing gas had a street value of around 90,000 euros. They arrested a 36-year-old local for breaking the opium law.

The police checked the building on Meesterstraat on Wednesday following a report. “In the building, they immediately found a large number of nitrous oxide bottles,” the police said. The officers confiscated 1,277 bottles in total.

The Netherlands criminalized the recreational use of laughing gas at the start of this year. The police have been seizing found canisters of the gas since January. In July, the authorities started arresting people caught trading, transporting, or possessing nitrous oxide.

The 36-year-old man is in custody for questioning.

“Laughing gas in traffic increasingly leads to dangerous situations,” the police said, urging people to report suspicious situations or storage areas. “In recent years, the police have seen deaths and injuries in traffic accidents involving laughing gas.”