Farmers and gardeners are increasingly confronted with criminals. They want to use the vacant barns or sheds in the countryside. Farmers’ interest group LTO Noord has hired a confidential counselor to discuss the problem and help farmers.
As a confidential counselor on behalf of LTO Noord, Gaby de Ruiter is a listening ear for the farmers. “Farmers and gardeners can always call me, I treat all conversations and information confidentially. Sometimes someone needs advice or just wants to vent. Suppose there is already a drug lab on your property, then I try to find it together with the property owner. I don’t do anything without the knowledge of the farmer,” she says.
De Ruiter has been working as a confidential counselor for two weeks. “Sometimes it is very clear, then someone comes onto your property. They offer money for the rent of a warehouse with the message that if they keep their mouths shut about the cannabis farm, they will get a bag of money. But sometimes it also happens gradually and it happens underhandedly. Someone comes who looks neat and wants to rent a warehouse for his company under false pretenses.”
In recent years, a number of drug labs have been busted in Drenthe. Drug labs and cannabis farms have been detected in Dalen, Coevorden, Hollandscheveld, Nieuw-Amsterdam, Nieuwlande, among others. All mainly in rural areas. In 2020, the largest discovered cocaine laundry in the Netherlands was located in a converted riding school in Nijeveen.
There are a few reasons for farmers and owners of barns and sheds to do business with criminals, but money is often the most important factor. The temptation of the often enormous amount is difficult to resist. A 70-year-old resident of Bovensmilde knows all about this: “You do something when you live in poverty,” he told RTV Drenthe after the police raided his home and came across a suspected drug lab under construction.
Drug labs can be very dangerous for the environment. Farmers often do not realize this when they are already doing business with criminals. People are often afraid to reject criminals, says De Ruiter: “Suppose you want to get rid of the tenant after three months, that is not always possible. Then they threaten, or show photos of the children that they know where they are at school. to sit.”
“There are stories that the farmer had a gun put to his head. You can’t just get away with it, we always say: ‘You can only say no to criminals once’. We often tell this at meetings where farmers and gardeners and residents of the countryside come together.”
According to De Ruiter, it is important that people recognize and report signals. This can also be done anonymously. Strange activities, vans driving back and forth, a funny smell and other signals can be reported anonymously or can be treated via the confidential counselor. “This is how you prevent worse.”
RTV Oost made a report about the confidential counselor: