A 34-year-old businesswoman has been remanded in custody over a huge synthetic-drug laboratory discovered in a warehouse she rented out in Bree, Limburg Province.
This was confirmed on Tuesday by Tongeren-Borgloon pre-trial chamber.
Police arrested the woman as part of an investigation into what the Limburg Public Prosecutor’s Office described on Friday as one of the largest active synthetic drug labs uncovered by officers in recent years.
The laboratory was found in a warehouse on Opitterkiezel in Bree, where suspects were producing MDMA and methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth.
Investigators also discovered large quantities of raw materials and chemicals used in the production and processing of synthetic drugs. These included 13 cylinders of hydrogen gas, more than 700 kilogrammes of precursors and about 180 kg of finished MDMA crystals.
According to prosecutors, the seized crystals could be used to produce around 800,000 ecstasy tablets, with an estimated street value of about €2.5 million.
During a raid on 14 September, police arrested four people. On Friday, the Tongeren pre-trial chamber confirmed the detention of a 35-year-old man from Weert, a 30-year-old from Weert, a 61-year-old from Sittard and a 43-year-old Belgian man from Venlo, in the Netherlands.
A fifth suspect, the 34-year-old businesswoman, was arrested on Thursday during an additional house search in Stukkenstraat in Bree carried out by the Limburg Federal Judicial Police.
During that search, detectives seized a mobile phone and about €30,000 in cash from her home.
