August 18, 2019

Legal case against Mexicans floating methlab Moerdijk started
On Thursday, August 22, the criminal case against four men suspected of running a drug lab in the port of Moerdijk starts in the court in Breda. There, on May 10, 2019, the very first floating Dutch drug lab was found in a cargo ship.

Booby trap
In addition to 300 liters of methamphetamine oil, a large container with 10,000 liters of drug waste and chemicals was found on the 80-meter boat. Experts spent three days decommissioning. The last day the ship even sank through a suspected booby trap to clear traces. According to the police, during the evacuation action, water suddenly ran into the ship through a pump that was switched on remotely.

Polluted water
The hold of the ship was full of thousands of liters of contaminated water. The experts involved in the decommissioning had to leave in a hurry. Rijkswaterstaat placed a screen in the port of Moerdijk to prevent the pollution around the ship from spreading. The chemicals were removed later.

Notorious cartel family
Of the four suspects (a 65-year-old skipper from Breda and three Mexicans aged 23, 26 and 37 without a permanent place of residence or residence), one of the Mexicans is part of an infamous cartel family. The owner of the ship is still without a trace.

Warning
Many years ago, the police's national threat assessment warned of the arrival of Mexicans, who smuggle unprecedented quantities of raw materials for drugs. Until more than three years ago no crystal meth was detected in the Netherlands at all, in recent years there have been more and more reports of meth finds and labs.

Doubling in use
It is striking that in Amsterdam last year there was a doubling in use compared to 2017. Researchers estimate that 300 to 400 people use crystal meth every day in Amsterdam. This puts our capital in eighteenth place in Europe. The doubling in use is also related to the increase in methlabs in the Netherlands.

Gayscene
Crystal meth (also called 'Tina' or 'Ice') is mainly exported to East Germany and the Czech Republic for export. Use is relatively high in Slovakia, the US, Canada, Australia and Asia. Use in the Netherlands is low: it is limited to certain circles in the gay scene, where meth is used as 'sex sex' to continue on sex parties for days and nights.