The postponed New Year’s meeting of the municipality of Westerveld was a bull’s-eye. Not in terms of weather, because it rained every now and then, but when it comes to visitors and the atmosphere. Many residents, including many families, came to take a look at the town hall. They enjoyed good food, music and various activities.
Between the meetings, Mayor Rikus Jager addressed the attendees several times. He touched on the major problems of our time, such as the refugee problem, in which Vledder recently played an important role. Following the example of the reception in Vledder, refugees in the Netherlands are now always taken in for two weeks who cannot find a place in Ter Apel. The way in which the local entrepreneurs have provided the refugees with food also provides inspiration, because this concept is also being adopted.
drug lab
A very interesting part, and also one of the problems of our time, was the mobile drug lab of Bureau Drugszaken. This drug lab has been a guest in Westerveld for the past few days. This is a private agency that, at the request of the province of Drenthe, introduces residents to subversion. In other words, how the underworld invades the upper world, in this case through cannabis farms, synthetic drug labs and coke laundries. Visitors to the meeting could also take a look. “But that’s not an issue here,” Jon Warmerdam was regularly told. Unfortunately, the reality is different.
After half an hour the viewers, and noses, were considerably wiser. Never smell if you see garbage, Warmerdam warned, but visitors could smell from small bottles. Do you smell anise? Then there may be ecstasy in the making. An almond-like smell? That could indicate speed of chrystal med. He was able to give a short summary of alarm signals: centrifuges, many microwaves together, the smell of acetone and foreign people whose behavior shows that they want to remain unknown.