The number of drug labs the police discovered and dismantled in the Netherlands nearly doubled in four years. In 2015, a total of 59 synthetic drug labs were dismantled. Last year there were 90, the Telegraaf reports based on police figures in the National Overview on Synthetic Drugs for 2019.
Crystal meth
Feb 12 '20 16:15
Lawyers and the Public Prosecution Service (OM) clashed in a hearing against three Mexican men and 66-year-old Breda skipper Cor B. in a case surrounding an allegedly booby-trapped meth lab found on a boat in Moerdijk last year.
Nov 4 '19 14:41
27-year-old Dutch athlete Madiea G. was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for drug trafficking by the court in Kleef, Germany on Monday. The sentence is one year longer than the 7.5 years the Public Prosecutor demanded. Her lawyer indicated that they would appeal, NOS reports.
Aug 13 '19 16:40
The police arrested three men in a Hilversum warehouse on Monday after finding 32 kilograms of crystal meth. The drugs, with a street value of some 3.2 million euros, were hidden in a magnet that came from Mexico and entered the Netherlands via Schiphol, the police said in a statement on Tuesday.
The arrested suspects are a 47-year-old man from Almeer, a 32-year-old man from Amsterdam, and a 43-year-old man from Uithoorn. The crystal meth was seized and destroyed.
Jul 31 '19 15:50
A Dutch athlete is currently in custody in Germany after she was caught with a very large amount of drugs and cash on her. Madiea G. was arrested on June 18th with dozens of kilograms of ecstasy and crystal meth and 12 thousand euros in cash in her car, AD reports.
Jun 26 '19 08:21
Investigators discovered a massive 2,500 kilograms of crystal meth in a hidden space in Rotterdam building last week, the police said in a statement on Wednesday. The meth has a street value of hundreds of millions of euros. "This quantity has not been found before in the Netherlands and even Europe", the police said.
Jun 4 '19 09:20
The police are finding an increasing number of crystal meth labs in the Netherlands. Mexican drug cartels are trying to push the highly-addictive and dangerous drug in Western Europe, police sources told newspaper AD.
May 13 '19 11:00
The police discovered a large crystal meth lab on a cargo river boat in Moerdijk on Friday afternoon. The boat turned out to be booby-trapped. While the police were raiding it on Friday night, the boat suddenly started sinking.
A total of four men were arrested, three of whom are from Mexico. So far the police said nothing about the suspects' backgrounds, but according to De Telegraaf they may be tied to a Mexican drug cartel.
Apr 25 '19 12:40
Last week customs officers found crystal meth and ketamine at a transport company in De Lier. The drugs were hidden in a shipment of frozen chicken drumsticks, which were on their way to England, the Public Prosecutor said in a statement.
The discovery was made on April 17th. A 32-year-old man from Amsterdam was arrested on suspicion of involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering. He was arraigned earlier this week and remanded into custody for another two weeks.
Mar 14 '19 15:00
There was a striking increase in the use of methamphetamine, more popularly known as crystal meth, in Amsterdam last year, according to the annual study of waste water in European cities by the European Agency for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the Telegraaf reports.
For the study, the sewage water of various European cities are tested for drug residue. The Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Utrecht are part of the study.
Feb 1 '19 10:00
The police found over 13 kilograms of crystal meth and 1.2 kilograms of cocaine in an apartment on Kees Pijlstraat in Rotterdam on Wednesday. A 35-year-old man was arrested.
Officially the apartment is registered as vacant, but patrolling police officers previously noticed signs of someone living there. At the time, no one was home. When the police returned on Wednesday, they found a 35-year-old man who claimed to live in the apartment.
Aug 2 '18 12:00
Dutch drug criminals are increasingly involved in making crystal meth. Over the past year, 10 crystal meth laboratories were dismantled in the Netherlands. "A few years ago, we hardly ever saw it", a police spokesperson said to NRC, calling 2018 a "turning point" in the production of meth.
Jul 30 '18 16:10
The police discovered 13 kilograms of crystal meth, a firearm and silencer and ammunition while searching an apartment in Zuidwijk in Rotterdam on Thursday last week. A 52-year-old man from Colombia was arrested. The street value of the drugs is more than 2 million euros, the police said on Monday.
Officers noticed the apartment because it is registered as uninhabited, yet movement was observed inside and there were reports of people going in and out with large bags.
Jul 5 '18 13:40
Two Dutch men were caught trying to smuggle 15 kilograms of raw materials for crystal meth to the Spanish island of Ibiza. They were arrested. The Spanish police released a video of the drug bust.
Aug 8 '17 15:00
An criminal gang suspected of trafficking hard drugs from the Netherlands to Australia was arrested in an international police action, the Dutch Public Prosecutor announced on Tuesday. A total of 17 suspects were arrested, including two Dutch.
A 33-year-old man from Utrecht and a 47-year-old man from Huizen were arrested in the Netherlands on Tuesday. The Dutch police became involved in this case, called Operation Veyda, after the Australian police asked the Netherlands to investigate the origin of drugs trafficked to the country.
May 17 '17 10:40
The court in Amsterdam sentenced 10 people to up to thee years in prison, up to 240 hours of community services and fines totaling in 10 thousand euros for large-scale drug trafficking and other drug related charges. The gang is best known for using crocodiles to guard their loot, Het Parool reports.
Dec 13 '16 09:33
Cocaine use in the cities of Utrecht and Eindhoven increased significantly over the past year, according to the European agency for drugs and drug addiction EMCDDA based on a study on drugs in the sewage of cities, ANP reports.
In Utrecht the amount of cocaine residue found in the sewage was twice as high as last year. According to the researchers' calculations, about half a kilo of cocaine is used in the city each day. In Eindhoven that number is slightly higher.
May 27 '16 10:30
Members of an Amsterdam drug gang that used crocodiles as "guard dogs" gave partial confessions to the police. This was revealed during a preliminary hearing in the case against nine suspects on Thursday
Feb 26 '16 10:46
Police officers in Amsterdam Oost discovered two giant crocodiles protecting drug money while arresting 11 people on suspicion of drug trafficking on Tuesday. According to the police, the crocodiles were in the same area as the drug money, and in such a position that you had to pass the animals to get to the money.
Oct 28 '15 08:48
Crystal meth is becoming increasingly popular in the Netherlands, especially among homosexuals. The drug is getting cheaper, and with the falling price, the use increases.
May 1 '14 15:08
At least fifteen containers filled with chemical waste were discovered dumped in the middle of a forest in Zeewolde, Flevoland Thursday morning, including a 20-liter barrel leaking an unknown substance. Police suspect the waste could be from an illegal meth lab.
