It’s rare calm in the drug world, less and less labs discovered

It is remarkably quiet in the drug world. In the first six months, far fewer drug labs were discovered and less drug waste was discovered. This is apparent from a global analysis of the crime figures in Brabant that Omroep Brabant keeps track of. These figures also show that at least seven people were killed by violence in the first six months of this year in Brabant. That’s ‘average’ in crime terms. As far as we know, there were no settlements in the underworld.

The murder and manslaughter rate fluctuates. Since the turn of the century, the number of people being killed has been falling across the country. In recent years, about 14 people in Brabant were victims of murder or manslaughter every year.

Here are the seven cases of deadly violence that hit the headlines:

• Valkenswaard, February. Woman stabbed to death in a bed and breakfast on Maastrichterweg. Partner’s wife arrested.
• Rosmalen, March. 22-year-old man stabbed to death on a terrace on Dorpsstraat. The prime suspect is a 17-year-old girl.
• Oss, April. 23-year-old man shot dead on his scooter at the Leeuwerikhof. At least two suspects, but shooter does not appear to have been caught yet. Tension mounted in the summer after several shootings.
• Roosendaal, April. A 34-year-old man killed in a flat on Burgemeester Freijterslaan. Possibly strangled. Arrested his ex and her new boyfriend.
• Breda, April. Den Hey Acker. A 19-year-old detainee from Enschede stabbed to death and a 20-year-old man seriously injured. The suspect is an 18-year-old inmate.
• Helvoirt, May. Severely injured 68-year-old man from Breda found on a forest path on the Margriet. He died in hospital almost a week later. As far as is known, no suspect yet.
• Tilburg, May. A 66-year-old pedestrian who walked a dog was killed in a car accident on the Besterdring. Suspects arrested in car. Police speak of manslaughter but can also be culpable homicide.

The number has continued to rise in recent weeks. A resident died of his injuries during a house robbery in Helenaveen, and a woman was killed in a traffic quarrel in Lith. That brings the number so far to 9.

shot dead
There were more cases in the news that had something to do with Brabant.

In January, for example, a detainee (21) escaped from Den Hey-Acker in Breda. After a wild chase, he was shot dead by the Belgian police.

In March, an officer shot a suspect dead in Waalwijk. There were also family dramas. In Den Bosch and Rosmalen. There was liquidation of a Brabanter in Africa. The Eindhoven criminal Ronald Masolijn was shot dead in Namibia in June.

drug labs
Fewer drug labs were discovered again in the first half of 2022. Five finds made the news, mostly smaller factories. That is about a half of the same period last year. Most striking find: a coke lab in Steenbergen with ten Colombians.

The decline has been visible since the summer of 2021. The National Police issued a statement at the beginning of this year. “One of the causes is the disintegration of criminal networks”. Those networks have been disrupted since the police cracked down on crypto phone services like Encrochat and grabbed the criminal users.

That is still in progress. “The backbone of these criminal networks seems to be damaged,” the police described it earlier this year. But also a warning: this is a temporary effect because criminals do not sit still.

Criminals from Brabant seem tired of all the attention from the police and other authorities and simply move their lab. A trend that has been going on for some time is also visible criminologist Emile Kolthoff.

Drug lab explodes
The displacement of part of the underworld became tragically visible in Friesland. A drug lab exploded in the village of Haule at the end of May. A resident of Eindhoven died and a fellow townsman was seriously injured.

In February, an underground drug lab in the Overijssel Ambt Delden led to at least one suspect from Brabant. The police carried out searches in Wanroy, Herpen and Tilburg. In June, the police arrested a ‘young man’ from Eindhoven in a working lab in Lottum, Limburg.

Around 13 labs have been in the news across the country in the first six months. That is also much less than in previous years. But add the 5 Brabant and ‘our’ share is prominent, as always.

Few dumpings
The number of drug dumping on the street and in nature is lower than ever. There are no reliable figures, but about 10 were in the news. The most notable was in Zundert, where someone parked a box truck with 3800 liters of chemicals. Experts at the police assume that criminals burn or neutralize the stuff and discharge it into the sewage system. Or in a well in nature, as was discovered at Halsteren last year.

Sometimes the dumper gets caught. Waste at Ossendrecht led to two men from Breda and Zevenbergen. And in July to a cocaine laundry on the Zeeland island of Tholen.

Coke
Less cocaine is also intercepted in Brabant. It used to be tons at a time. The ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam are making more and more finds, but there is little to notice here. Sometimes, as in May in Roosendaal: 899 kilos.

One of the most special crime news came from the upper world: the Breda lawyer Mustapha M. was arrested. Together with his brother, he is suspected of organizing and smuggling cocaine.

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