Police searched several premises in Sittard and Geleen on Tuesday morning in the investigation into organized hemp cultivation in Limburg.
Seven premises were involved: in Vragendeal, Monseigneur Claessenstraat, Christian Kisselstraat and Meanderstraat in Sittard and Salmstraat, Bollenstraat and Rijksweg-Centrum in Geleen. Several items, including information carriers, were seized. One more arrest has been made.
Sixteen people were arrested in a major police operation in the Western Mining Region last May. Most of them were Albanians. Officers then seized more than 12,000 hemp plants and 24 kilograms of dried hemp buds.
The company Europrofex on the Groenstraat in Geleen made the criminal activities possible, according to the justice department, by paying the bills for gas, water and electricity and sometimes also the rent for the premises where the plantations were located. The company ensured that the criminal activities in the premises remained under the radar for years. Two directors of Europrofex have been arrested as well as a 34-year-old Albanian employee. They are suspected of using false identity papers, (facilitating) organized hemp cultivation and money laundering.
Greek restaurant
Police also suspect an owner of a Greek restaurant in Geleen of providing false employer statements to Albanian "employees. These false employer statements on fictitious employment were used to obtain mortgages with which to buy properties. In the past, hemp plantations were found in premises owned by the restaurant owner, police reported. Tuesday's sub-investigation focuses on the false employer statements and the role of the restaurant owner. He is a suspect, but not (yet) arrested. Police want to investigate the information carriers first, says a police spokeswoman.
