It was a rare find that the police made in Haps: a drug lab in which they made ‘hip’ designer drugs. The lab was hidden in a dome tent. The police arrested a Polish man from Hoogeveen who allegedly made the drugs. But the man says that there is no truth in all the accusations against him. The public prosecutor demanded three years in prison on Thursday.
The lab emerged after a tip. Illegal prostitutes are said to live on a site on the Kwekersweg, in the outskirts of Haps, close to the A73 highway.
On Sunday, November 19 last year, people from the municipality went to watch with police officers. When the police officers arrived at a warehouse, they found Robert W. (33) from Hoogeveen inside.
Puss
The officers also smelled a strange chemical odor behind the warehouse. There was a green dome tent there, with three separate rooms inside. Cracks were closed with polyurethane foam. There was a drug lab in one of those rooms. There were more than eight kilos of the relatively new designer drug 3-CMC, also known as ‘Puss’ or ‘Meow’.
Experts found a thousand-liter barrel. There were several gloves on top. Two of them contained W.’s DNA. Experts also found a cell phone belonging to Robert W. containing chats about drug production and photos that, according to the police, indicate that the man was involved.
Right to remain silent
His trial was in the court in Den Bosch on Thursday afternoon. The court had many questions for W., but he did not want to say anything. “I refuse to make a statement,” he kept repeating through a Polish interpreter. It was no surprise. He also always invoked his right to remain silent with the police.
Robert W. wanted to say that he is a painter and has been living in the Netherlands for a while. His children live in Poland. He is now in prison in Grave and he has good contact with a priest there. “This is the last prison I will stay in, I want to start a new life.”
His lawyer asked for an acquittal. According to her, there is insufficient evidence that he had anything to do with this: he lived there on that property and knew nothing about it.
The suspect himself suggested at the end of his trial that you cannot run such a lab on your own. “Is it possible that a person put it together like that,” the suspect wondered.
Pronunciation
There were no other suspects during the trial. On the day of the raid, another man was arrested, but he was quickly released. Everything indicates that he had nothing to do with it.
The court in Den Bosch will give its decision in two weeks.
Hazards
Labs where they make designer drugs are almost never discovered. Drug labs for amphetamine, ecstasy and crystal meth dominate the market. But the police suspect that there are more places where they make ‘Puss’ or ‘Meow’. It is a fairly new synthetic drug that is similar to speed.
There are estimated to be tens of thousands of users in the Netherlands. Young people in their twenties in particular are said to be fans of the stuff.
According to addiction institutes such as Jellinek and Trimbos, it is a stimulant. It has been banned for six months. There are experts who warn about the dangers, because it is unclear what is in it and the composition often changes.