On Monday morning, the illegal marijuana police unit of the Northern Netherlands busted a growery in Foxhol with thousands of marijuana plants inside the former headquarters of Dutch potato starch company, Avebe.
Translation by Traci White
The police found 5,000 marijuana plants on the site during a bust on Monday morning. All of the plants and equipment were taken into police custody and destroyed. The Groninger Internet Courant reports that building was Avebe’s headquarters until 2012 when the company moved to their current location in Veendam.
A 37-year-old man from Den Helder in North Holland, a 38-year-old man from Sint Jacobiparochie in Friesland and a 47-year-old man from Julianadorp (North Holland) were arrested at the site.
Following several anonymous tips about the activities in the building, the Northern Netherlands police unit began investigating the site. It turned out that the building was using an extraordinary amount of electricity, despite no clear business activity going on inside. The electricity was being illegally tapped from Enezis, and the company will seek to recover payment for it from the suspects.
The police also determined that the owner of the building, a 50-year-old man from Dedemsvaart in Overijssel, was being paid thousands of euros from a 60-year-old man from Burgum in Friesland and a 54-year-old man in Leeuwarden. The three men were later arrested by the police in connection to the operations.
