Clean-up workers removing a tree uprooted by a storm noticed a chemical smell and "suspicious" men walking about a nearby farmer's shed (AFP Photo/EMMANUEL DUNAND) |
The Hague (AFP) - A tree uprooted during a storm in the Netherlands has led to the discovery of one of the largest cocaine laboratories in the country, police said on Thursday.
Clean-up
workers were removing the tree after the storm early Thursday when they noticed
a chemical smell and "suspicious" men walking about a nearby farmer's
shed in the southern Dutch village of Oud-Vossenmeer.
"Police
were called and agents discovered the laboratory in the shed," a police
statement said, adding it was "one of the largest discovered to date in
the country."
Police
declined to say how much cocaine was found, but admitted taking the laboratory
apart will take "several days."
No arrests
were made, with the suspects having fled.
Record
quantities of increasingly pure cocaine are being seized by European
authorities, the EU drugs agency said in a report published on Thursday.
EU member
states seized 140 tonnes of cocaine in 2017, the highest level ever recorded,
with an average street price of 55 to 82 euros ($62-92) per gram in the EU, the
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) said.
The purity
of cocaine at street level reached its highest level in a decade in 2017, while
its retail price has remained stable.
Belgium
accounted for the highest proportion of cocaine seizures with 45 tonnes,
followed by Spain with 41 tonnes.
An increase
in trafficking via shipping containers is a "major challenge", the
report said.
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