Haarlemmermeer

The police arrested a 55-year-old man in his home in Haarlemmermeer on Tuesday on suspicion of child sex tourism, the Public Prosecutor said on Friday.

The man is suspected of sexually abusing multiple minor girls in the Philippines and Thailand and the possession of child pornography, the Prosecutor said. The authorities believe he was about to travel back to the Philippines. "There are no indications that he also abused minors in the Netherlands."

In a major investigation into so-called criminal facilitators, the FIOD uncovered a large network of drug, weapons and anabolic steroids traffickers. Six people from Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland were arrested over the past months. The FIOD seized 450 thousand euros in cash and bank balances, and over a million euros worth of ecstasy, steroids and medicines, AD reports.

The Koninklijke Marechaussee already received 110 complaints about problems with valet parking companies around Schiphol this year. Clients return from their trip to find damage to their car, many extra kilometers on the odometer, or that their car was involved in a traffic accident or caught speeding while they were away, Het Parool reports.

With valet parking, the traveler hands their car over at the airport and the company parks the car elsewhere. When they return, their car is returned to them at the airport or they have to pick it up at a paring lot.

A refueling system problem at Schiphol Airport was likely to cause significant delays to hundreds of departing and arriving flights, the airport said on Wednesday afternoon. The fault in the system was not likely to be resolved before late Wednesday evening, a spokesperson told NU.nl. Thursday morning flights could potentially be affected as well, the spokesperson said.

An investigation into the discovery of cocaine hidden in a flower shipment in January led to a much larger drug bust in April. Ten people were taken into custody who worked for a logistics firm at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam after 160 kilograms of cocaine was found in another flower shipment.

It was not revealed when the arrests took place, but eight of the suspects were still in custody on Thursday.

An unlicensed taxi driver seen soliciting passengers in Schiphol Plaza at the airport was found in possession of a gun, the Marechaussee said in a statement. The man was held in custody at about 4:20 p.m. on Saturday.

Authorities said the 30-year-old was well-known to authorities. He was questioned at the scene and admitted to offering his services as an unlicensed taxi operator, the statement said.

"When asked if the man had weapons or other illegal items, he said he had a weapon on him. A firearm was found in a neck pouch," the Marechaussee said.

Passengers can still be picked up and dropped off at Schiphol's 'kiss & go' zone for free for the foreseeable future. Schiphol investigated the possibility of charging money for the use of this drop off zone, but that plan has been called back, AT5 reports.

The municipality of Haarlemmermeer never received a request for such a measure, according to the broadcaster. The airport does not have the authority to put a price tag on the access roads, that lies with the municipality. 

The police fired warning shots during a confrontation with an unknown number of suspects on the parking lot of a retirement home on  Nigtevechthof in Amsterdam Zuidoost on Sunday night. Four suspects were arrested after a chase. No one was injured, the police said on Twitter.

Local residents called the police to report shots fired around 10:00 p.m. Witnesses told AT5 that a total of eight shots were fired, six of which happened in quick succession. The police can not yet say whether there was an actual shooting.

Homebuyers in the Netherlands are increasingly turning to the suburbs as home prices in the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague continue to rise, according to homeowners association Vereniging Eigen Huis. First time buyers can no longer afford buying in one of the large cities, AD reports.

All Dutch provinces except Groningen saw economic growth last year, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Tuesday. Of the four large Dutch cities, Amsterdam saw the biggest growth at 3 percent, The Hague the lowest at 2.2 percent. Rotterdam had the highest unemployment rate in the Netherlands last year at 11.3 percent, far above the national unemployment rate of around 6 percent.

The number of welfare recipients in the Netherlands increased by 4 percent last year, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Tuesday. At the end of December 2016 the Netherlands counted a total of 467 thousand welfare recipients, 18 thousand more than December 2015.

The growth can mainly be attributed to non-Western immigrants, particularly asylum seekers who were given refugee status in the Netherlands last year. After being given a residency permits, refugees can apply for welfare.