Eight people have been arrested following a series of drugs raids by police in Leeuwarden.

More than 80 officers and defence officials were involved in an operation to shut down a criminal gang suspected of supplying hard drugs to 200 people in the town.

Search teams recovered 12 cars and two automatic weapons as well as drugs, money and financial documents from seven addresses in the Frisian capital. Specialist search dogs and equipment were used to recover the items, some of which were kept in hidden storage areas.

‘We traced the suspects after receiving complaints from residents,’ Cor Reijenga, head of Leeuwarden’s police division, told NOS. ‘The criminal gang was headed by a man and a women. They are people who are known to us.’