Three men from Harlingen, Leeuwarden and Amsterdam, who were arrested at the end of September on suspicion of involvement in international drug trafficking, will be detained for two months longer.
This was reported by the Public Prosecution Service in Groningen on Tuesday.
It concerns a 41-year-old man from Harlingen, a 43-year-old man from Leeuwarden and a 24-year-old from Amsterdam.
The Harlinger’s arrest took place in his hometown at the end of September; the other two were also arrested in Franeker and Leeuwarden around that time, after several raids in the province of Friesland.
Encrochat
The police in the Northern Netherlands tracked down the suspects by cracking encrypted messages via Encrochat. This showed that criminal networks in Friesland were involved in drug transport to Germany.
The suspects dealt in both soft and hard drugs, including hemp, amphetamines and cocaine.
Raids in Leeuwarden, Drachten and Harlingen
During a raid on a garage box in Leeuwarden, a large amount of hemp was found. A batch of MDMA and materials for its production were also found.
On 28 September, the police found remnants of a drug production line in a farm on Het Zuid in Drachten, as evidenced by, among other things, semi-finished products and raw materials. During a search in Harlingen on September 30, vehicles, cash and jewelry were seized.
Public Prosecution Service spokesman Klaas Jan Bos does not rule out the possibility that more arrests will follow in this investigation.