At least 17 people are in custody in the Netherlands after police raided a former riding stables that had been transformed into the country’s largest ever illicit drugs “laundry” capable of producing up to 200kg of cocaine a day. Thirteen of those detained were Colombian nationals, police said on Tuesday. Three Dutch citizens – including the 64-year-old owner of the stables, in the northern village of Nijeveen – and one Turkish suspect were also arrested. Tens of thousands of litres of chemicals were seized, along with equipment such as barrels, jerrycans, plastic tubing and five cement mixers used to extract the cocaine from so-called “carrier material”, such as clothing, that had been impregnated with the drug before being exported to the Netherlands.“This is the largest cocaine laundry ever found in the Netherlands,” the police chief André van Rijn said in a statement. “Given the number of people who worked there, the size, the layout and the equipment, we estimate the production capacity at 150kg to 200kg of cocaine per day, representing a street value of €4.5m-€6m [£4.04m-£5.39m] uncut.”Police also found sleeping quarters for workers in the stables, about 75 miles (120km) north-east of Amsterdam, and recovered 100kg of cocaine base. After searches at storage sites in the nearby towns of Apeldoorn and Elshout, about 120 tonnes of carrier material was also seized. The suspects are due to appear before a judge this week and more arrests remain possible, police said. According to the Dagblad van het Noorden newspaper, several dozen heavily armed police used a Bearcat armoured personnel carrier and a surveillance helicopter in the operation, which happened early on Friday but was announced only on Tuesday.

All data is taken from the source: https://www.theguardian.com/
Article Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/11/dutch-police-bust-largest-cocaine-lab-at-rural-riding-school


#said #cbsnews #newsgazetteobituaries #news #nytimes #cnn #newsnow