With about 750 officers, the police today carry out large-scale raids and arrests in the Netherlands. The target, according to the police, is a criminal organization dealing in synthetic drugs. The main prize, according to crime reporter Mick van Wely, is the arrest of Piet S.
“S. has been active in the drug environment for 40 years, up to the highest level and with contacts worldwide,” says the Telegraaf journalist. He places the Hague sixties in the top 5 of the biggest criminals in the Netherlands.
Van Wely describes S. as someone who operates silently from the shadows “and does not act like the great cowboy”. As a result, he is less known to the general public than other national leaders.
The police cannot confirm or deny that S. eighteen people arrested. The same applies to the lawyer who, according to De Telegraaf, S. represents. But the crime journalist says the lawyer has confirmed it against him, as well as several anonymous sources.
Dozens of cars impounded
The scale of the police action indicates that it concerns very large players. Because it was an international operation involving a total of 1,000 agents with 62 raids spread across five countries. Dozens of cars have been impounded.
Several buildings were also seized, where drugs, weapons and cash were found. The suspects are charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization. The arrest sequence was the provisional climax of a four-year investigation.
View images of the raids here:
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