In the port of the Dutch municipality Moerdijk in the province of North Brabant, investigators have searched a ship about 80 meters long.
In it, they discovered a laboratory for the production of crystal meth and 300 liters of the synthetic drug with a street sale value of 4.5 million euros.
Even as the investigators scrutinized the freighter, the criminals apparently started a remote-controlled pump to bring the ship down. However, this could be prevented, as the police announced. It has now been confiscated. One Dutchman and three Mexicans were arrested.
The inland waterway vessel was registered in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, reported "De Volkskrant". Also, a car was seized with a German license plate.
From local residents, the newspaper learned that the ship was already several months for repairs in the harbor. On board, the police encountered a container filled with 10,000 liters of chemical waste. An official came to a clinic with breathing difficulties. It was the first time in the Netherlands that a drug laboratory was found in such a large ship, the police say.
Crystal Meth is a brain damaging methamphetamine that quickly becomes addictive and causes physical and mental decline. In the drug scene, it is also called Ice or Meth.