Multiple weapons found in search around Overasselt

Police found multiple weapons during a search of several locations in and around the Gelderland town at the centre of a drugs dispute, where dozens of armed men were seen roaming the streets this week, leaving one man dead and two police officers injured.

Investigators, looking into violence in Overasselt, found a cache of weapons on Wednesday in the nearby town of Wijchen following a tip from a resident.

The property that was targetted by the gunmen, which has a history of association with drugs gangs, has been ordered to close for a year. The main resident of the property has also been given a restraining order from the town for two weeks.

An order for residents to stay inside their homes was lifted on Wednesday.

Police responded to call about a robbery at a home in the early hours of Tuesday morning. A 51-year old security guard was killed and two officers were injured in the ensuing violence.

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf later posted security camera videos showing a group of at least 30 masked men – some carrying what appear to be automatic rifles – outside a property.

Police have arrested 34 people in connection with the incident and say the attack was the result of a “long-running conflict.”

The property has a long history of drug-related incidents. A drug lab was found there after a fire in 2019, and the same address was shot at with an AK-47 last year.

According to broadcaster NOS, police were investigating a video that surfaced on social media threatening one of the residents, accusing Jan G. Jr – a resident of the property – of stealing a shipment of cocaine.

Dutch media have connected Jan G. Jr to drugs baron Jos “Bolle Jos” Leijdekkers, who is wanted in the Netherlands and Belgium for narcotics trafficking and other offences.

He is currently thought to be in West Africa and suspected of being behind the biggest shipment of cocaine ever intercepted, which was found in Spain earlier this year.