The municipality of Dongen and the police discovered the remains of a drug lab in a house on Daniëlsweg in Dongen on Tuesday. This is the second time that items used to make drugs have been found. It also happened in 2019. The municipality then closed the building and checked it several times until it was purchased by a real estate entrepreneur at the end of 2022. And he says he knew nothing.
Tuesday’s events were very similar to what happened on September 27, 2019. Then two men aged 45 and 26 from Kaatsheuvel were arrested as they drove along the Daniëlsweg in a van. In their trunk were two large barrels containing substances for making synthetic drugs. The resident of the house was also arrested that same day. Inside, officers found all kinds of items to make the drugs.
On Tuesday, the police arrested a 23-year-old man from Hoeven. He was wearing orange overalls and was about to drive off the property in a van. He also had barrels of drug waste in his car. A day later, he is still the only suspect arrested in the investigation, the police said.
But what happened between 2019 and 2024 and how come the house was used for drug production again? In any case, the house is in a nice place for criminals who want to do shady business there. It is remote and the neighbors are companies on an industrial estate. In any case, they have not noticed anything about the practices lately. “But of course they work at night and we work during the day,” explains an employee of a coffee supplier.
After the events in 2019, the municipality of Dongen closed the house. “The building was then locked for several months,” the municipality now says. “Then it was checked again.” According to a spokesperson, the municipality regularly checked on the house until it was sold in December 2022.
“This is just bullshit.”
The current owner is a real estate entrepreneur who has thirty properties. He says he was surprised by the news that drugs were being made. “I knew nothing about this and am separate from it. If I had gotten wind of this, I would report the people to the police.” The entrepreneur also says that he does not know the 23-year-old suspect from Hoeven. “I don’t want anything to do with this. This is just bullshit.”
The real estate agent who oversaw the 2022 sale says he was unaware of any previous criminal activity in the home. According to him, this was not discussed during the sale.
The real estate entrepreneur bought the house to convert it into housing for migrant workers. He wanted to achieve this together with the tenants. He has applied for a permit for this from the municipality of Dongen.
The owner states that the last tenant left the house last December. He has not yet heard anything from the police and the municipality of Dongen. The municipality informs Omroep Brabant that it will take ‘administrative measures’ against the owner. This could mean that the building will be ‘boarded up’ again for a period of time. No decision has yet been made about the permit application to convert it into homes, a spokesperson said.
