An extra 125 police officers are to be temporarily reassigned to tackling organised crime in the south of the country, the public prosecution department said on Thursday.

The officers will focus on marijuana plantations, synthetic drug labs and motorbike gangs, the department said.

Mayors in the region have been demanding extra manpower for months after a string of headlines about marijuana production and the dumping of chemical waste used in drugs manufacture.

Organised crime

‘The nature, seriousness and size of organised crime in the southern Netherlands would appear to be increasing,’ justice minister Ivo Opstelten told news agency Novum.

25 officers each from the Limburg, Noord-Brabant and Zeeland forces will be joined by 50 detectives from the national police force.

The team will focus on ‘short sharp shocks’, the public prosecution department said. This means the main focus will be on catching smaller fish, according to the NRC.