Vlaardingen plumber won't move despite explosions targeting his home, business, family

Ron van Uffelen, the Vlaardingen plumber who has been the target of explosive attacks for a year, won’t move away from Vlaardingen, he said in a first interview with Rijnmond. He and his family are devastated by the attacks. But leaving would only move the problem from one place to another, he said. He added that he has no idea why he is being targeted.

The first attack on Van Uffelen happened on 4 April 2023, with the vandalism of one of his company vehicles. The last attack was over Easter Weekend. Someone threw a firebomb into the home of his sister-in-law and his two nephews. All three had to go to the hospital with breathing problems. One of the boys spent two days in intensive care. The inside of their home was completely destroyed by the fire.

Van Uffelen is doing “pretty shitty,” he told the broadcaster. “I think what’s happening is bad for everyone. And especially for my own family, my sister-in-law, my nephews, and my mother.” The plumber is married with two sons, ages 7 and 13. His family is frightened. “My big fear is that they won’t pull through. That they will break. That’s really the worst thing for me.”

After the last attack, Mayor Bert Wijbenga of Vlaardingen imposed a restraining order on Van Uffelen, banning him from two neighborhoods in the municipality. “I don’t understand that. It would be for safety reasons. But I have never been near the place where an explosive went off. The mayor also sent me out of my house. I am now in a hotel that I have to pay for myself. The costs are quite high, I can tell you. And that is, of course, the icing on the cake for the person behind the explosives.”

Van Uffelen is still working as much as he can. His loyal customers still call him out. “My business premises have been closed, but the business was completely open at all times. Except on the days after an explosive went off.”

He and the police are working through a list of suspects who could be behind the attacks. One of them is Marco E., a 31-year-old man who has been on the list of most wanted criminals in Europe since November last year. In 2020, he was sentenced on appeal to 7 years and 7 months in prison for smuggling thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the Netherlands with the help of a corrupt customs officer.

Van Huffelen knows Marco E. He got into a fight with him four years ago. “About a buddy of mine who passed away. I won’t say anything more about that,” the plumber said. “But it could just as well be someone else who is sending his ‘soldiers’ after me. Someone I fired, for example.” He and the police have looked at around 10 people. “Even motorcycle club Caloh Wagoh. But they all turned out to have nothing to do with it.”

The police have arrested several people for placing the explosives, but they did not lead to the person behind them. “They get their jobs via Telegram. Someone simply offers 200 or 300 euros per job, and they accept. I don’t think they even know each other.”

Van Huffelen said he feels sorry for his neighbors, but he has no intention of moving. That would only shift the problem somewhere else, he said. He is annoyed with Mayor Wijbenga. “He is just looking for something to prove that I am the bad guy. I have already had four police raids, with drug and gun dogs present. Nothing was found. I am not a saint or anything. But I am not who he thinks I am.”