The former treasurer of a local branch of the Christian Democrats has been jailed for one year for his role in the biggest drugs lab ever discovered in the Netherlands.

Wim van der P, who was treasurer of the local CDA until his arrest, was found guilty of facilitating the production of and trade in hard drugs by judges in Den Bosch. The lab was found in a shed on his farm in the Noord Brabant village of Leende

Van der P was found not guilty of producing and the possession of drugs after judges ruled the prosecution had not proved that he had access to the lab, despite it being on his land.

Police described the lab as being on an industrial scale when they raided it last year. In total, they found 21,500 liters and 1000 kilos of chemicals used in the making of ecstasy and amphetamines.

The lab was capable of producing 150 kilos of ecstasy and 100 kilos of amphetamine paste a day. ‘It was a multi-million euro business,’ the public prosecutor said. Daily turnover was calculated at €10m.

Van der P told the court that he did not know what was being done in the shed, which he had rented to a young man whose full name he did not know. Nor was there a rental contract.

However, the court said Van der P must have been aware that something illegal was going on.

The public prosecutor had called for a five year jail term.