Eight "sovereign citizens" arrested in criminal network investigation
The police arrested eight people in different parts of the Netherlands on Wednesday on suspicion of possession and use of weapons and dangerous substances. The suspects are part of a criminal network that adheres to “anti-institutional ideology” and may want to use violence, the police said.
The suspects consider themselves “sovereign citizens” - people who believe that the government has no legal power over them. Last year, the counter-terrorism authority NCTV reported that the number of sovereign citizens in the Netherlands has grown to tens of thousands in recent years. A small number may not shy away from violence in their resistance to government institutions, the NCTV said.
The suspects arrested on Wednesday are seven men and one woman between the ages of 47 and 74. They are from Leeuwarden, Waadhoeke, Súdwest-Fryslân, Ommen, Gilze en Rijen, Den Bosch, and Waddinxveen.
When searching the suspects’ homes, the police found and seized weapons, ammunition, narcotics, possible explosives, and other hazardous substances. Investigators also seized various data carriers.
The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests may follow, the police said.
