Dutch police and other officials uncovered fewer drugs labs in 2025 than in previous years but more are being found in residential areas.

In total, police busted 142 labs, but the number used to produce synthetic drugs such as MDMA and meth fell by 23% to 88, new police figures show. The police did, however, uncover more places where cocaine and heroin were being prepared for sale.

Some 64% of all lab locations were in residential areas, rather than remote parts of the countryside, where the number of drug waste dumps have also gone down. In 2024, 58% of the labs were in private homes or estates.

The national force’s drugs chief Paul Entken said that drugs gangs are shifting their work abroad and that more labs are being detected in Germany and Belgium. “We have made ourselves more unattractive,” he said.

However, the shift to setting up labs in residential areas is bringing additional dangers with it, he said. “In March 2025, a housing complex in Heemstede had to be evacuated because of a fire…which turned out to be due to methamphetamine production,” he said.

The police also discovered fewer illegal marijuana plantations last year – 759 as opposed to 895 – a trend which has been visible for some time and may be linked to lower police priority, Entken said.

In addition, more marijuana from abroad was seized by customs officials last year. They found a total of 65 tonnes of cannabis, mostly from North America and Thailand. The drug was shipped in via containers, or by air, post and in person.