Weert

The chemicals and fertilizer found around the arrests of six suspected terrorists in Arnhem and Weert in September, were enough to make half a kilogram of explosives, the Public Prosecutor said in a proforma hearing against the six suspects on Monday. With that they could have caused a big explosion, according to the Prosecutor, AD reports.

A man was found dead “under suspicious circumstances” in an apartment in Weert, Limburg during the early hours of Friday morning. The police went to the man’s home on Zilvermeeuw at around 2:30 a.m. after a report that he had not been seen for several days, the Telegraaf reports.

The police are investigating exactly how the man died. The home is closed down as a crime scene.

A group of seven men arrested in September for planning terrorist attacks in the Netherlands, was considering Amsterdam Pride as a possible target, the main suspect said to an undercover police officer, RTL Nieuws reports based on information from multiple sources.

The police infiltrated the group of seven suspects arrested last month for planning a major attack in the Netherlands. An undercover cop made contact with main suspect Hardi N., pretended to be an "attack planner" for terrorist organization Islamic State, and helped the group to plan their attack and arrange weapons, RTL Nieuws and NRC report.

After the arrest of seven suspected terrorists in Arnhem and Weert on Thursday, the mayor of Weert is discussing extra security measures around the fair in the city with the police. It is known that the arrested men are suspected of planning a terrorist attack at an event in the Netherlands, but which event is still unclear, RTL Nieuws reports.

The police released video footage of the arrests of seven men suspected of planning a terrorist attack in the Netherlands. The video shows SWAT teams raiding a white van in a parking lot and entering a home.

Beelden van de arrestaties in het terrorisme onderzoek. pic.twitter.com/ji5w3mLeCM

— Landelijke Eenheid (@PolitieLE) September 27, 2018

The terrorism threat level in the Netherlands remains substantial at 4 on a scale of 5 after the arrest of seven suspected terrorists on Friday, the national coordinator for counter terrorism and security NCTV said, RTL Nieuws reports.

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.

The police arrested a 24-year-old man from Weert for abducting a 6-year-old girl in the Limburg city last week. The girl was playing in a playground when the man spoke to her, grabbed her and bundled into the boot of his car. The girl was released a short time later.

Witnesses told 1Limburg that the girl kept screaming while in the trunk of the car. She was let out of the car a few streets away from the playground and ran home. The girl was very frightened, but otherwise unharmed.

A Dutch-Polish drug gang was busted in a combined effort by the Dutch, Polish and German police. The Dutch police raided multiple places in the south of the Netherlands on April 16th and 17th and arrested seven suspects. Another seven suspects were arrested in Poland. They are all suspected of being part of a criminal organization involved in drug trafficking and dealing in chemicals intended for the production of synthetic drugs, the police said on Friday.

Three people were arrested in the asylum center in Weert on Monday evening on suspicion of violence and vandalism. Initial reports stated that a man was threatening others with a firearm, but the police emphasize that this was not the case, the Telegraaf reports.

Sources told regional newspaper 1Limburg that tensions were high in the asylum center all day and that a man with a firearm threatened to shoot people. According to the police, this is not what happened and there was no question of a hostage situation.