Today at 12:00 • Updated today at 12:14
The cleaning of the largest dumping site of drug waste in Europe, the ‘drug pit’ on the Brabantse Wal in Halsteren, is almost complete. The drug den was discovered by chance in 2021, after which the gigantic place had to be cleaned. Now, five years later, the drug den is as good as clean. ‘A big hole in nature and the wallet’ is what the province of North Brabant calls the place on the Brabantse Wal.
Over the past year, the toxic soil has been excavated and the groundwater has been purified. The province will continue to monitor and measure whether nature can cope on its own for at least another year. Because now that the clean-up work by humans has been completed, micro-organisms have to do the last bit of work.
Experts use DNA techniques to determine which bacteria do their work. But before it is the way it used to be, you will be a generation further. “It will take decades before the forest here is full of life again,” the province of North Brabant reported in a press release on Wednesday afternoon.
Drug cartel
Who exactly is responsible for the mega drug dump has never been clarified, but in any case it was a South American drug cartel that was active there. In 2020, cocaine was processed in a warehouse on the edge of the hill. The police discovered chats about that place in the large Encrochat hack.
When the police raided there in early 2021, there was no one left. It turned out to be an abandoned workshop. It had been used for a while after a cocaine laundry was located at Poortvliet in Zeeland explodes.
When police investigated the empty lab, a forest ranger discovered the hidden dump site. The surprise and horror were enormous. The site was located near a water extraction area and in a Natura 2000 zone. There was a moment of panic due to the impending costs, but the province and central government stepped in to help. Research after research followed, measurement after measurement.
Drug pit Brabantse Wal and the forest ranger shortly after the discovery (photo: Willem-Jan Joachems).
In 2023, four hundred trees on and around the hill were cut down. 5000 cubic meters of soil were excavated. This was necessary to safely remove the 1,200 cubic meters of highly contaminated soil. Almost half of them have actually been removed. The sand was transported to a specialized company in Moerdijk.
An eight-meter-deep crater with a surface area of ​​two thousand square meters was created. It looked like a construction site for an apartment building.
This was followed by the cleaning of more than 6,000 cubic meters of contaminated groundwater. Experts were able to filter 750 kilos of pure and toxic drug raw materials from the ground. Clean soil was then poured into the pit and the hill appears to be back as before.
Sown rye
“We sowed rye last autumn to stimulate soil life and will plant our first tree this spring,” says forester Erik de Jonge of Brabants Landschap. “As soon as the soil can handle it again, we want to plant beautiful mixed forests.”
According to De Jonge, ‘there will come a time when birds will again breed in the treetops and deer will rest in the cover’: “Nature is resilient enough to recover even in this place. In the coming years we will monitor how the recovery at the former drug den is progressing.”
Watch ‘Crime Explained’ about the drug pit:
Six dump sites in Brabant, a nightmare for governments
Halsteren is the largest dump site ever. But more cleanup projects are underway at drug dump sites. These are in Rijsbergen, Deurne, Someren, Boxtel and Baarle-Nassau.
It is a nightmare for governments. “We have already received 6.8 million euros from our central government for the remediation of six locations for which we as the province of North Brabant are currently responsible. That is tax money that we could also have used to tackle other problems in our society. And those are only the costs for the six largest locations in Brabant for which we as a province are responsible,” says Brabant deputy Hagar Roijackers.
“Drug waste discharges are bad news. Bad news for people, animals and plants. So it is important to detect and stop these types of discharges as quickly as possible.” Roijackers emphasizes that every victim can ask for help.
The province and central government support the clean-up operations. But the costs are secret. In the case of Halsteren, everything indicates that it concerns many hundreds of thousands of euros and possibly more than a million.
It is striking that no major drug dumping sites have been discovered in Brabant after 2023. The number of drug dumpings is also decreasing. There is no good explanation.
