"Professional" drug lab dismantled in Brabant town; suspect arrested
What the police describe as a "professional drug lab" was discovered in the stables of an abandoned farming business in the Noord-Brabant town of Maarheeze on Wednesday. A 46-year-old man was arrested. The property on Het Laar is about to be publicly sold. When a broker went to inspect the plot on Wednesday, he discovered a large number of barrels that seemed to contain chemicals and called the police. The police responded with specialists from the National Dismantling Facility and the fire brigade. At the scene they found not only the barrels of chemicals, but also a professional investigation. The lab was equipped with several boilers used to produce synthetic drugs. Distributed over several stables investigators found hundreds of barrels containing various chemicals. Forensic investigators spent all of Wednesday night searching for trace evidence. The dismantling of the lab started in the early hours of Thursday morning and took all day. The former owner of the stables was arrested at his home on Wednesday night. He is in custody for questioning. His involvement in the drug lab is being investigated. The police stress that giving criminals opportunity or resources for their activities is also a criminal offense.