Amsterdam police on Sunday arrested 16 people in raids on three city coffee houses in connection with illegal gambling, drugs and other criminal activities.

According to the NRC, some of the arrests were also connected to the ongoing investigation into the wave of gang-related murders in the capital.

The raids also involved officials from the tax office, customs and city council.

Amsterdam has been hit by a spate of killings over the past year, several of which are thought to involve mistaken identities. Last month a man was shot dead in the De Clerqstraat. He, too, is not thought to have been the target.