Police in Zwolle have arrested a man who was caught transporting 78 canisters of nitrous oxide in his car.

Traffic patrol officers stopped the vehicle after they received a report about someone acting suspiciously in the area on Wednesday.

Possession of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is not prohibited in Zwolle – in contrast to cities such as Groningen and Utrecht – but individuals are only allowed to transport a maximum of 2kg.

The driver was arrested when it became clear he did not have the certificates to carry industrial quantities of the drug in his car. ‘Storing and carrying dangerous substances in this way is potentially lethal,’ police said in a Facebook post.