A 52-year-old man from Boxtel has to go to jail for 7.5 years because he was involved in a drug organization. In the summer of 2019, the police discovered a drug lab in the basement of his villa is Esch. He would also play a role in the construction of a similar lab in Rilland in Zeeland.
De Boxtelaar came into the picture of the police some time before the lab was discovered, after meeting a suspect in another case. Soon the police decided to keep an eye on him too and tap his phone. During one of those conversations, he talked about the drug lab in Esch.
Ecstasy and amphetamine
The police found that lab a little later in the basement of the villa, which the man was renting out. There was a thousand-litre kettle, but also barrels and jerry cans full of drugs. It turned out afterwards that ecstasy and amphetamine had been produced in the cellar in the months before the discovery.
After the discovery, only the couple who rented the villa was initially arrested. These were a 49-year-old man from Hengelo and a 40-year-old woman from Hungary. De Boxtelnaar said that he was ‘very shocked’ and that he had never noticed anything.
Blackmail
It later turned out that the owner did indeed play a role, although he still denied this during the lawsuit. According to the man, he was blackmailed and would have made his cellar available under pressure.
The judge did not agree. Research showed that the man himself contributed to the production, directed people, made purchases and decided whether and when production would stop. Later it turned out that he was also involved in the construction of a similar drug lab in Rilland.
Severe punishment
The judge imposed a heavier sentence on the Boxtelnaar than the 6.5 years originally demanded. An important reason for this is that both ecstasy and amphetamine are produced in the cellar. This would mean that not one, but two drug labs would have been in use over a longer period of time. According to the court, the man also played an important role in the organization.
In this video you can see what the drug lab looked like: