At least 29 of the 55 people arrested in this week’s mass raids on drugs labs and private homes across large parts of the country have been remanded in custody while the investigation continues, police said.

A number of little fish have been freed but 29 remain in jail pending further inquiries. The raids took place across well-to-do residential areas as well as residential caravan parks and motorbike gang headquarters, police said.

A party supplies company in Best is considered to have had a key role in the case and functioned as a front for the large scale supply of drugs.

One of the three main suspects was arrested in the Czech republic and is expected to be deported shortly.

Pioneer

Another name that has come up is that of Rotterdammer Ton van D, who was said to be one of the first pioneers in the ecstasy trade in the Netherlands. He is thought to have earned hundreds of millions of euros in the business.

Some 1,500 police officers, soldiers, tax officials and others were involved in a string of raids at 100 locations across the southern Dutch provinces on Monday morning in a major crackdown on drugs-related crime.

The operation, nicknamed Operation Trefpunt, is one of the biggest-ever combined police campaigns, the Telegraaf says. The investigation into the gang, involved in the production of drugs like amphetamines and ecstasy, has been ongoing for three years.

Haul

Some 55 kilos of drugs were found, including 15 kilos of MDMA, 15 kilos of ‘pills’ and 20 kilos of amphetamines. Six drugs labs were dismantled, including one on the Spaanse Polder in Rotterdam which contained 4,000 litres of chemicals used to make amphetamines.

Police also seized almost €500,000 in cash and 20 weapons, including pistols, an Uzi and a Kalashnikov. Other items removed by police included two Harley Davidson motorbikes, 26 cars, a lorry, two boats, a jet ski and a quad bike.