The men arrested Wednesday night during the large police operation at Satudarah in Geleen constitute the entire top of the motorcycle club's Geleen chapter.
Sources around the investigation confirmed this.
One of those arrested is the president of the department. With him, four fellow board members were reportedly arrested. Four of the five suspects have a Moluccan background. This is not true of the 43-year-old suspect from Kerkrade. The investigating authorities think he is the sergeant of arms in Geleen. He is responsible for member safety and order within the club.
Battle plan
The arrest of the leadership of Satudarah Geleen is part of the prosecution's battle plan to ban the motorcycle club. The prosecution is no longer aiming its arrows so much at individual criminal members but rather at Satudarah's alleged criminal club culture. The organization, in this case the board of the Geleen chapter, allegedly facilitates the lawlessness of its members and is aware of crimes in which they are involved.
200 agents
The five board members ended up in jail this week after a massive operation that included 200 police officers. The action was part of an investigation into crimes such as prohibited possession of weapons, extortion, money laundering and drug trafficking. One of the locations investigated was a Moluccan community center in Geleen. There, Satudarah members would organize club nights. At that location, four men were arrested. Geleen is the only branch of Satudarah in Limburg.
Lawful
The fifth was handcuffed at a house in Geleen. The public prosecutor did not want to respond to questions about the arrests of the board members. The OM tweeted, "The legality of the arrests and detentions have been reviewed and found to be lawful. Tuesday the arraignments will follow at the examining magistrate. The suspects are in confinement. The investigation is ongoing".
