Police find record batch of ketamine, street value of 8 million euros

The police in Noord-Holland has arrested eleven suspects in an investigation into large-scale drug trafficking. During searches, officers came across more than 350 kilos of ketamine, according to the police the largest find of this party drug ever in the Netherlands.

The investigation into the case began in mid-2018, when the police received information that a man from Hoofddorp was involved in drug trafficking. During the investigation, according to the police, it came to light that there was a criminal organization with more people involved. As the police have done more often in recent times, the evidence was collected by reading along with chat messages via the encrypted communication service EncroChat.

The criminal organization is said to have been involved in, among other things, a batch of 400 kilos of cocaine that was intercepted in a commercial space in IJmuiden in February 2019. The gang is also suspected of running a methamphetamine lab in Drenthe.

250 police officers

The raids and arrests were already in late October, but nothing about it had been announced until today. More than 250 police officers were involved, as well as a specialist team from Defense.

People were arrested and searched at fourteen locations. This happened in homes and business premises in Hoofddorp, Amsterdam, Limmen, Losser and the German city of Gronau. In addition to drugs, expensive cars, firearms and more than 100,000 euros in cash were seized. The 350 kilos of ketamine found, with a street value of more than 8 million euros, according to the police, was in hidden spaces in a business building in Hoofddorp.

The suspects are nine men and two women between the ages of 25 and 60. Four of them are still detained, including two men from Hoofddorp who are seen as the leaders of the gang. The police do not rule out that more people will be arrested.

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