How Netherlands is becoming ‘Narco state’ where victims are tortured in dentist chairs & kids peddle drugs aged just 12

HIDDEN inside an innocuous shipping container, a grim torture chamber is packed out with a dentist’s chair, scalpels and sound-proofing to stifle victims’ screams.

The horrifying discovery by Dutch police last month, near the southern city of Bergen op Zoom, has only highlighted an ever-escalating crime wave in the Netherlands, sparking fears it’s descending into a ‘Narco state’.

In a major crimelords bust, the cops that discovered the containers infiltrated encrypted phones used by criminals – and hundreds of arrests have been made by both UK and Dutch police since.

Messages exchanged by gang members described the warehouse in Holland as the "treatment room" and appeared to discuss holding interrogations.

It’s the latest in a long line of grim crimes in the Netherlands – and they’ve grown so bad that there was even a ‘Narco brigade’ appointed to stamp out organised crime last year.

Now Jan Struijs, chairman of the biggest Dutch police union, tells Sun Online the escalating troubles have even seen kids as young as 12 dragged into the drugs trade.

“We have the characteristics of a Narco state,” he says.

However, Struijs says the recent discovery of the torture chamber comes following years of work – and proves they’re making strong steps to clamp down on violent crime.

“We have a new level of organised crime here,” he says. “The high-tech crime team – I call them ‘the whizz kids that act like Alan Turing’ – are amazing [to have found this].”

Currently six people have been arrested following the discovery, and Struijs says police had to move swiftly to arrest the man behind the torture rooms.

“They [the police] have to act very quickly because this guy was quite under the radar until now – he was allegedly an opponent of a very well-known criminal,” Struijs claims.

“It’s a very violent drugs war, all in this beautiful country called the Netherlands.”

Here we look at how the country has fallen victim to a bloody and brutal crime wave…

Severed head found outside café 'linked to drugs war'

While a number of gruesome crimes have rocked Amsterdam in recent years, few came close to the time a severed head was found in a box in the city in 2016.

The discovery came just a day after the man’s headless body was found in a burnt out car outside the city.

The victim was eventually identified as 23-year-old Nabil Amzieb.

According to local media, he wasn’t thought to be a hardened criminal himself, but allegedly had friends involved in gang conflict in the area.

Stan Koeman, who runs a snack bar nearby, told Dutch newspaper Het Parool at the time: “It seemed to have been placed in such a way that the head was staring in through the windows of the cafe, like a kind of signal.”

The death was reportedly linked to a violent war between rival drug gangs at the time, but no specific person was charged.

Key witness’ brother murdered in cold blood

In March 2018, another shocking murder hit the headlines.

The brother of a key witness in a major case, which was covering multiple murders, was gunned down in the city.

His killer, Shurandy S, later pleaded guilty and claimed he was promised around €100,000 (£89,000) to assassinate him, reports local news outlet De Telegraaf.

"It was a murder on order. Shurandy S. has shown no respect for the life of the victim", the judge reportedly said. He was later jailed for 28 years.

The victim was identified as Reduan B, brother of witness Nabil B.

Nabil B had made a number of statements to police, including reportedly linking Moroccan-Dutch criminal Ridouan Taghi, who's claimed to run a huge crime network, to a series of assassinations at the time.

Lawyer gunned down in front of wife

The case took a major dark turn a year after Reduan B’s death however, when the criminal defence lawyer that had been defending Nabil B was also killed in front of his wife as he left work.

Derk Wiersum, 44, was gunned down in September last year, and his death was later linked to Ridouan Taghi and his alleged network.

Police chief Erik Akerboom said at the time: "With this brutal murder, a new limit has been crossed: now even people simply doing their work no longer seem safe."

Meanwhile, justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus called the shooting "an attack on our rule of law".

Struijs agrees, and says: “It’s what I call the pollution of the honest society. It’s undermining our honest society.

“There’s major violence against the state – a lawyer being killed, police officers being threatened and getting extra protection – it’s becoming very visible.”

The arrest of 'Netherland's most wanted'

Taghi, who was the alleged ringleader of a criminal network known by many names – one of which was ‘Angels of Death’ – was eventually arrested at the end of last year on suspicion of being involved in multiple murders and drug trafficking.

Until his arrest in Dubai, he had been the Netherlands’ most wanted criminal.

“They [the criminal network] have several names," Struijs says. "They had the nickname ‘Angels of Death’.

"But they also call themselves the swimming pool – referring to the fact that when you’re dead, you go to fishes – the old Mafia tradition."

‘Motley crew of drugs criminals’

A damning report last year laid bare the true extent of the crime problems currently plaguing the Netherlands.

The city-commissioned report, seen by Reuters, even claimed drugs money had made its way into the real estate market.

While Amsterdam has been well-known as a hub for marijuana for years – with it openly sold in coffee shops around the city – the report claimed that hard drugs had begun taking over.

“Amsterdam has given free rein… to a motley crew of drugs criminals, a ring of hustlers and parasites, middle-men and extortionists, of dubious notaries and real estate agents,” the report stated.

It went on to claim that while wealthy organised crime bosses are at the top of the chain – many of whom may not even be based in the city – there are many people towards the bottom of the chain that may go unnoticed.

They reportedly include “criminal lackeys such as scooter and taxi chauffeurs and even youthful messenger-boys set to follow quite a career path: offering murder as a service”.

‘Narco brigade’ appointed for ‘war on drugs’

Following the shocking murder of Wiersum, the government took immediate action, and according to the Irish Times, appointed a ‘narco brigade’, similar to America’s drug enforcement administration, to battle organised crime.

Justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus made the announcement in September last year, explaining that it would be an “elite” unit of at least 100 officers.

Indeed, Struijs says major steps have been taken in law enforcement to combat the growing issue.

“There is light in this tunnel!" he says. "We have extra money, new teams – including an international intelligence team.

“We are very intensively working together with the UK, and that will continue in the future.”

According to a report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, cannabis remained the most commonly used drug in the Netherlands as of 2019 – followed by ecstasy and cocaine.

Meanwhile, Struijs adds: “We have a report out in two months time, and it shows the Netherlands are head producers of many drugs, including ecstasy."

Why the Netherlands?

Ultimately, Struijs says there are a number of reasons the Netherlands has become a hub for trading and selling drugs – both geographic and social.

“We have the biggest harbour of Europe, in Rotterdam,” he explains. “Our distribution centres are excellent.

“We are traders, from the 1600s, and we are also very international – everyone speaks English, very good French and a little German.

“Until 10 years ago, we were quite naïve about organised crime. That makes us very interesting to organised criminals."

He also claims the country can be a "good hiding place", with plenty of expensive properties available to rent, and adds: “We also have a long tradition of making ecstasy, while the penalties can be quite low, in my opinion.”

Struijs explains the main motive for many of these criminal networks is money – and much of it is laundered in big businesses.

“Money laundering is a major issue,” he explains. “They’re involved in holiday homes, in real estate, in buying ownerships in good companies. A lot of the money made – we’re talking about years of organised crime – is going to be in our system.

“They estimate between 10-15 per cent is illegal money made legal."

He says while the Netherlands hardly have any specific gangs, they instead have highly intelligent networks operating – many of them international – which he says is an even bigger concern.

‘Outlaw motorcycle gangs hired by crime bosses’

Struijs says another growing issue is outlaw motorcycle gangs being hired by criminals to murder opponents.

"They’re called executors here. They do the violence a lot of the time, as well as distributions,” he explains.

“They’re very active. We also see them in South America now.

“They’re hired to kill or they participate in a network by distributing. They can also be there to protect the guys making the deal.”

‘We see minors of 12 or 13 years old distributing drugs’

Wouter Laumans, author of bestselling book Mocro Mafia, which covers the rise of organised criminals in Amsterdam, says the main issue that needs addressing now is a social one.

He told the BBC: “It's about opportunities in society. They're no different from bankers or journalists, they want to make money.

“If you aren't a good football player or don't have the brains to wrestle yourself out of that world, this is their means. It's not just a drug problem, it's a social problem."

And Struijs agrees – saying he’s heard of kids as young as 12 being dragged into the drugs trade early.

“My main concern is that young people in areas that have little chances are directly going into organised crimes, starting of course slowly,” he says.

“Already we see minors of 12 to 13 years old already distributing drugs, or doing observations, in some parts of bigger towns.

“Their social chances are often lower… they can make very fast money in a short time."

He says while the country has begun to overcome its "naivety" around organised crime, there's still a long way to go, and there is one immediate solution that should be strived towards – eradicating the major social gap.

“We need to give everybody a reasonable chance to develop themselves in society, otherwise they choose criminality,” he says.

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