Dutch delivery driver robbed of hundreds of laughing gas tanks in Germany
A 21-year-old man from the Netherlands was the victim of an armed robbery on Saturday evening while transporting several hundred nitrous oxide tanks in his delivery van. The incident occurred between 6:00 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. at a logistics company parking lot along Industriestrasse in Aldenhoven, North Rhine-Westphalia, about 25 kilometers east of Kerkrade.
Four unidentified men approached the victim, threatening him with a weapon before assaulting him. They forced him to the ground, tied him up, and took the nitrous oxide tanks from the van’s cargo hold. After transferring the gas cylinders into their getaway vehicle, they locked the victim inside the van and fled the scene.
The victim, a 21-year-old man from Venray, managed to free himself and alerted the police. Authorities later tracked down the suspects’ getaway vehicle in Alsdorf, roughly 12 kilometers west of the location of the robbery. The vehicle was abandoned, and a 21-year-old man from Aachen was arrested, but the stolen nitrous oxide tanks were not recovered.
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is legal in Germany but was banned for recreational use in the Netherlands as of January 2023. It has grown in popularity as a recreational drug over the past decade, and is often inhaled through balloons for its euphoric effects.
The suspects are described as slender men aged between 18 and 30 years old, with heights ranging from 165 cm to 190 cm. One of the suspects was wearing a beige Gucci cap with long, curly black hair and a dark “goatee.” Another reportedly had gelled black hair and spoke German with a North African accent, police said. The tallest suspect, who stood between 190 cm and 195 cm, had a Dutch accent.
The stolen nitrous oxide tanks are reported to be several hundred in number. Exact figures have not been disclosed. The investigation is ongoing, and police have urged anyone with information about the robbery or the suspects to come forward.
After nitrous oxide fell under tighter restrictions in the Netherlands, a proposal for similar rules were put forward in Germany. This effort was led by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, and was passed in late 2024, though it has not yet been enacted.
