Seven arrested in coordinated drug raids across Eindhoven, Tilburg, and Budel-Schoot
Police conducted multiple early-morning raids Tuesday in Eindhoven, Tilburg, and Budel-Schoot, arresting seven people suspected of involvement in a criminal organization producing and distributing synthetic drugs.
The arrested individuals include five men, aged 36, 40, 41, 44, and 56, and two women, aged 25 and 28. They hold Romanian and Dutch nationalities and were residing in Eindhoven. All are in police custody.
Raids in Eindhoven took place at three addresses on Grote Berg in the city center, a home on Hemelrijken, and a bakery with apartments above on Van Gentstraat in Oud-Woensel. Officers also searched an Italian restaurant on Piusstraat in Tilburg and a business warehouse in Budel-Schoot.
Special units, including the Dienst Speciale Operaties, deployed sniffer dogs, heavily armed officers, and vehicles were thoroughly searched during the Eindhoven raids. Doors were forced open at several locations, and parts of a bakery facade were cut to gain entry. In Tilburg and Budel-Schoot, searches included both business premises and upstairs apartments.
Police described the suspects as “a sustainable, structured organization committing crimes together” and said they were involved in transporting illegal goods across Europe. “They have been arrested and are suspected of working in a criminal cooperative,” authorities stated.
The raids were part of a broader investigation following the discovery of tens of kilograms of hard and soft drugs and a significant amount of chemicals earlier this year in Eindhoven. A separate search in July 2024 at a building on Rooisestraat in Waalre also uncovered multiple prohibited substances.
During the Hemelrijken raid, police handcuffed and arrested a woman inside a residence. Neighbor Alina, 26, said she was woken shortly before 6 a.m. by loud banging. “It is usually very quiet here. I opened the curtains and saw police vans. They stayed for more than an hour,” she told Omroep Brabant. She added the residents were Romanian and that she had no previous issues with them. One of the women reportedly worked at a nearby bakery on Kleine Berg.
