HOENSBROEK - Because one-third of the homes were suspected of residents growing marijuana, police besieged the Kasteelbuurt neighborhood in Hoensbroek for hours yesterday.
The large police operation resulted in nineteen hemp plantations cleared, the discovery of 6.5 kilograms of amphetamine and raw materials for it, confiscation of goods and the dismantling of an illegal café. Eighteen local residents were arrested. Three of them are still in custody. Police expect more people to be arrested in the coming days. Police closed all access roads to the neighborhood from quarter to eight in the morning until the afternoon. At the same time, 47 of the 128 properties with a search warrant rang the doorbell. The police suspected hemp cultivation at all these houses. This was in response to data from energy network operator Enexis, which found that the neighborhood had an unprecedentedly high power consumption. Measurements with an aircraft with heat recording equipment confirmed the suspicion of large-scale cultivation. The police also had dozens of anonymous tips about plantations in the neighborhood. According to Mayor Toine Gresel of Heerlen, who declared an emergency ordinance, intervention was necessary because the risk of fire became too great. The illegal tapping of power was taking on such proportions that the network could hardly cope.

How much the police action cost in total is unclear. The cost of deploying 250 officers alone is estimated to exceed 200,000 euros.