Dutch police busted a total of 90 drugs labs last year, a rise of eight on 2018, most of which were in the south and east of the country.

There was also a corresponding rise in the number of labs used to produce highly addictive crystal meth. ‘A few years ago we barely found any,’ police spokesman Max Daniel said.

‘Because the price of crystal meth is considerably higher than ecstasy or amphetamines, it is a profitable business and that maybe why Dutch drugs producers are making the switch.’ Last year police broke up nine crystal meth labs, compared with seven in 2018. Two have already been identified this year.

The police do report a sharp drop in the number of chemical dumping sites – down from 292 in 2019 to 191 last year.

‘We don’t think that fewer drugs are being produced, because we are identifying more labs and storage points,’ Daniel said.

Some of the chemical waste may be dumped down drains or in lakes and rivers, or dumped over the border in Germany, Daniel said. More waste has also been found at the production sites themselves.