Four men have been arrested after a police raid on one of the biggest illegal drugs labs ever found in the Netherlands.

The police were alerted to the lab after locals spotted smoke and steam coming from the building in the town of Hoogerheide, Dutch media reported.

The four men ran off. Three climbed onto the roof and two were brought down by crane. The third man jumped down, breaking both ankles and is now in hospital.

The fourth man fled in a car and was later arrested in Belgium. He was carrying false ID. The Dutch authorities have requested his extradition.

Police found dozens of containers of chemicals in the lab and it took experts all night to shut down the operation.

Justice minister Ivo Opstelten visited Brabant on Tuesday to discuss the province’s rising drugs crime rate. Most of the country’s synthetic drugs labs and marijuana plantations are thought to be located in Noord-Brabant and Limburg.