The mayors of five cities in the southern province of Noord-Brabant have called for the use of ‘unorthodox and innovative measures’ to combat the growing drugs crime problem in the region, the Volkskrant said on Tuesday.

The situation is so serious that the rule of law is being undermined and society is being seriously damaged, the mayors and the province’s king’s commissioner say. ‘The criminal drugs industry is undermining society and that is a killer for democracy,’ the paper quoted them as saying.

The plan has been signed by the mayors of Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda, Den Bosch and Helmond.

The mayors, who head up their local police forces, say a parallel society is developing around the mass production of drugs. Drugs lords are infiltrating all parts of society, including the police and the problem needs to be tackled urgently.

In particular, privacy laws make it difficult to tackle drugs crime and should be amended, the mayors say. The assets of criminals should be seized immediately they are arrested so money cannot be shifted abroad and the rules on pre-trial detention should be changed so suspects can be kept longer in jail.

In total, the mayors say €150m in needed a year to tackle drugs crime in the province, which centres on marijuana growing and the production of ecstasy.