Ecstasy

The Public Prosecutor demanded 6.5 years in prison against three men suspected of large-scale drug trafficking through the Hansa Market on the dark web in court on Monday. A female suspect is facing 2 years in prison, eight months of which conditionally suspended. 

The Australian border police in Sydney discovered a number of champagne bottles that didn't contain champagne, but liquid ecstasy. Most of these bottles were shipped to Australia from Belgium, but a number also came from the Netherlands, France and Germany, the Australian Border Force [ABF] said in a statement. 

GroenLinks wants ecstasy to be removed from criminal hands by having the government regulate the drug's production, parliamentarian Kathalijne Buitenweg said to the Volkskrant.

"The government does not have to make the pills itself, but the government must want to take control", she said to the newspaper. She recommends a permit system with controlled production, so that only pills that meet quality requirements are available. "I say it because of public health, but also because we have to do something about the frighteningly growing power of criminals."

The police arrested 12 people in the Netherlands for involvement in the production and export of drugs to Scandinavia. A 13th suspect was arrested in Peer, Belgium. The suspects are 12 men and a woman between the ages of 32 and 16 years. They were arrested on Monday, but the police only announced the arrests on Thursday.

The police searched buildings in Utrecht, Vleuten, Woerden, Maarssen, Houten, Almere, Waardenburg, Lopikerkapel and Aalsmeer. 

On Tuesday the police arrested four suspects in Amsterdam and Werkendam in connection with drug trade on the dark web. They acted as vendors and sent drugs to thousands of people world wide, hidden cleverly in makeup powder boxes, Nintendo games and ink cartridges, among other things, the police said in a statement on Friday. 

Crime in Amsterdam fell by 5 percent in 2017 compared to the year before. There were fewer cases of pickpockets, muggings, and violent threats, but the number of home burglaries and robberies increased. Nationwide crime is steadily declining,  according to figures the National Police will publish on Thursday, the Volkskrant reports. 

A drug lab was found in a garage behind a home on Brederolaan in Etten-Leur on Monday morning. Two people, a man and a woman, were arrested, a police spokesperson confirmed to NU.nl.

A large hole was dug into the floor of the garage, according to BN De Stem. Local residents told the newspaper that this hole was a recent addition - a container of sand was recently driven away. Exactly what the hole was used for, is not clear.

On Monday afternoon the German police arrested a father and son on the A30 after finding 5 thousand ecstasy pills shaped like Donald Trump's head in their car. NL is stamped on the back of the pills, Osnabrück police said on Facebook.

The 57-year-old father and 17-year-old son were pulled over near Osnabrück. According to the German police, the orange colored pills are worth about about 39 thousand euros. A large amount of money was also found in the car.

The two were on their way back from the Netherlands, where they wanted to buy a car, they told the police. 

The police dismantled a drug lab in a residential area of Geldrop, Noord-Brabant on Wednesday. The resident of the house was caught in the act of producing ecstasy pills in a shed behind his house when the police raided the property. The man, his wife and his son were all arrested, the police said in a statement.

Officers found 18 thousand ecstasy pills and 20 kilograms of MDMA, which is used in drug production, on the property. Another 10 kilos of ecstasy was found in a garage box used for storage. 

Between 2012 and 2016 alcohol consumption in Amsterdam decreased, but the use of hard drugs like ecstasy, cocaine and amphetamine increased, health service GGD revealed in its Amsterdam Health Monitor 2016, Het Parool reports.

For the Health Monitor te GGD questioned over 8,600 Amsterdam residents between the ages of 19 and 64 years about their physical and psychological health, daily habits and health care. The service then compared the results to a similar study done in 2012 and 2008. 

Two people were hospitalized and one arrested in a brawl in Druten on Pentecost Sunday.  Three others were arrested for brawling at a dance event in Breda, the police announced in statements on Monday.