A 40-year-old man from Eindhoven was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in prison for storing an ‘unprecedented amount’ of weapons and ammunition. In a garage in the middle of a residential area in Eindhoven, he stored, among other things, rifles, pistols, revolvers, firearms, shotguns and a pistol for a previously convicted weapons supplier. The police raided there in August.
The police found the items in August 2021 in a garage in Eindhoven, which the suspect rented. In addition to all the weapons, there were also 28,247 pieces of ammunition.
The suspect states in court that he had debts with two men and that they were allowed to use his garage in exchange for cancellation of the debts. The court finds this ‘completely unbelievable’. The evidence shows that the suspect kept the items for a convicted weapons supplier.
The garage also contained more than 1,100 attachments and parts for weapons. The accused cannot be convicted for this, because this was not clearly stated in the indictment. He is also acquitted of possession of one and a half kilos of hashish. It cannot be established with certainty that the suspect knew that these drugs were in his garage.
Weapons in the middle of residential area
When determining the sentence, the court takes into account that the suspect had stored an enormous amount of weapons in a garage in a residential area for a long time. In an overheard telephone conversation, the suspect even mentioned two storage locations.
According to the court, the ‘uncontrolled possession’ of the weapons and ammunition poses great risks to the safety of local residents, who were not aware of any harm. The court therefore counts heavily on the suspect that he facilitated organized and subversive crime by storing the weapons.
The raid was on Thursday night, August 19: