LUIK/LANDGRAAF - Eric van den B., former operator of hotel-restaurant Overste Hof in Landgraaf, is no longer detained in the Latin prison in Belgium. The bankrupt investor, suspected of cannabis cultivation, has been released on bail.
"The bail amounted to 20,000 euros," explains his lawyer Serge Weening. "Friends of his put that together." According to Weening, his client has yet to stand trial, but Van den Bergh himself hopes it will not come to that. Weening thinks the bail is very high and also does not have a good word to say about the fact that Van den Bergh was detained for months in Belgium. He was allegedly involved in operating a hemp plantation of eight hundred plants in Plombieres, just across the border near Vaals. "In the Netherlands, you don't get detained for ten times that amount." Van den B. says he is innocent and points the finger of accusation at V, who comes from the Heuvelland region but lives in Plombieres. This 50-year-old man was arrested on December 6, 2006 and is being held in Verviers.

According to a justice department spokesman in Aachen, V. is suspected of dealing in soft drugs in Germany. Germany has requested V.'s extradition.