Several people were arrested last week after death threats were made against a police officer involved in a drug investigation. A criminal group promised “tens of thousands of euros for information about the officer,” according to a police report.
The alleged criminal group threatened to kill the officer in messages published online.
“The Police and the Public Prosecutor’s office take the threat very seriously. Security measures to protect the officer were undertaken,” police said.
Groups from the Noord-Brabant criminal underworld threatened to murder a police officer from the Zeeland-West-Brabant unit. The threatened cop is active in the fight against drug crime in Noord-Brabant, a spokesperson for the police confirmed to NU.nl.
The police did not say exactly what function the threaten cop holds. The 3,500 employees of the unit were informed about the threat on Wednesday. The police are investigating.
To make it clear that the police are aware of threat, discussions were held wit the criminal gangs in the area on Wednesday. No one was arrested.
Charles van der Voort, the Chief Public Prosecutor in Zeeland-West-Brabant, is resigning as of November 15th. At the Public Prosecutor's office there has long been complaints about a poor working atmosphere and a lack of transparency, NOS reports.
The national management of the Public Prosecution Service launched an investigation into the Zeeland-West-Brabant office last year. That investigation was recently completed and the results were discussed with the management at the regional office, but will not be made public for the time being.
Criminal organizations have approached 15 percent of Dutch farmers to offer them money in exchange for free-standing sheds or stalls so that a drug lab can be built there, Trouw reports based on a poll conducted by Geleen Consultancy.
The number of farmers approached by criminals in this way may well be higher, as some may be afraid to admit this. The police believe the number may be as high as 3 out of 5 farmers, according to the newspaper.
A 37-year-old police officer from the Zeeland-West-Brabant corps was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of leaking confidential information to a third party, the Public Prosecutor announced on Thursday. He is also suspected of possession and dealing of narcotics.
A 43-year-old man from Zierikzee was also arrested in the same investigation. He is suspected of trading in hard drugs. Three addresses were searched, though the prosecutor did not say if anything of consequence was found.
