Police seize 3 tonnes of cocaine and €11m in cash in farmhouse raid
Police have seized almost three tonnes of cocaine and €11.3m in cash on a farm in the village of De Kwakel, some 25 kilometres south east of Amsterdam, the Telegraaf reported on Tuesday.
Both the drugs and money may have come from a South American drugs gang. ‘The piles of packages of cocaine are reminiscent of the drugs warehouses run by El Chapo in Mexico and the US,’ the paper reported.
The bust was made last week but kept quiet in the interests of both the investigation and safety, the paper said.
‘When we searched the building, we could not believe our eyes,’ the police source told the Telegraaf. ‘The house was full from under the floorboards to the top with blocks of cocaine and bags full of cash. We found so much we had to call in extra forensic help and security.’
A police spokesman later told broadcaster NOS the haul is one of the biggest drugs seizures ever made by Amsterdam police. In total, the haul is worth some €200m, the spokesman said.
No-one was registered as living at the address but a 54-year old man has been arrested. A second suspect, a 29-year-old man from Hilversum, was arrested in nearby Aalsmeer. More arrests have not been ruled out.
Police also found six guns, silencers, ammunition, and money counting machines, as well as valuable bottles of wine, a book about Mohammed Ali worth €12,500 and a vintage car.
A poster of Marlon Brando as Don Corleone in The Godfather hung on a wall in the property. ‘We found everything that you see in films and series about the South American drugs world,’ the police spokesman told NOS news.
Police chiefs have warned about the way South American drugs gangs are moving into the Netherlands and several Colombian, Mexican and Dominican Republic nationals have been arrested at drugs labs in recent months.
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