Dutch drugs police lost track of a suitcase containing €201,500, which was part of an undercover operation, the Telegraaf reports on Thursday.

The cash was in a suitcase fitted with a tracking device but nevertheless disappeared during the operation, the public prosecution department has confirmed.

The money was to be used to pay for 270,000 ecstasy pills in a drugs deal at a Van der Valk hotel on the A1 motorway near Apeldoorn. The operation was set up following a tip off from the American DEA and involved two Portuguese detectives posing as buyers, the Telegraaf says.

The suitcase was later found empty behind the bar of a café in the village of Twello, just a few kilometres from the A1.

Arrests

Seven people were arrested during the sting and €27,500 in cash was later recovered. However, it is unclear what happened to the rest of the €175,000, the Telegraaf says. The suitcase was being monitored from national police headquarters.

Nos crime reporter Robert Bas said the observation teams monitoring the sting had to keep their distance. ‘You can’t have a lot of people hanging round a hotel room,’ he said.

Although a considerable sum of money has been lost in this deal, sometimes millions of euros – ‘bags full of 500 euro notes’ – are involved, he said. ‘Criminals do not pay each other via the bank,’ he pointed out.

The incident happened in the spring but has only now been made public by the Telegraaf.

Lawyers representing the defendents told the Telegraaf they want to question the Portuguese police officers about the missing cash.