Increase in anonymous reports of drug laboratories since Rotterdam explosion

Meld Misdaad Anoniem, the independent reporting center where people can anonymously report a crime, has received a record high number of reports about synthetic drugs, the center reported on Tuesday. In total, Meld Misdaad Anoniem handed over 306 reports to the police, most of them about possible drug laboratories. This is an increase from last year when there were 262 reports in the same period.

According to the reporting center, many reports about drug laboratories and materials for making hard drugs came in the months after the deadly explosion at the end of January on the Schammenkamp in Rotterdam-Zuid. The explosion, which resulted in three people losing their lives, was possibly caused by a drug laboratory, and the reporting center said that it showed “the risks of drug manufacturing in a tragic way.”

Meld Misdaad Anoniem noticed after the explosion that people “were very shocked by the impact. Suddenly, all the dangers of the manufacturing of synthetic drugs came very close. The interest in reporting this increased. Signals that sometimes would be ignored for a long time were being reported after the incident.”

The reporting point discovered a drug laboratory in Spijkenisse following an anonymous tip last month. Drug laboratories in Nijmegen, Schalkwijk, and Wijdewormer were also dismantled earlier this year following anonymous tips.

It was also announced last week that, following an anonymous tip via Meld Misdaad Anoniem, manure mixed with drug waste was found on three fields around Baarle-Nassau (North Brabant).