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Police Find Makeshift Torture Chamber Inside Shipping Container

Police Find Makeshift Torture Chamber Inside Shipping Container

They discovered a dentist's chair along with tools like pliers, hedge cutters, scalpels and handcuffs inside the sound-proof room.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Police in the Netherlands have discovered a makeshift torture chamber inside a shipping container.

Shipping containers usually house loads of different goods and products but you can imagine the shock on officer's faces when they saw a Dexter-esque torture chamber in one.

The shipping container was housed in a warehouse in Wouwse Plantage, a small village in the southwestern Netherlands, close to the border with Belgium.

The torture chamber was sound-proofed and contained tools like pliers, hedge cutters, scalpels and handcuffs.

Detectives were able to find this grisly shipping container after French police helped them crack encrypted mobile phone communications on EncroChat.

A similar investigation was recently able to allow authorities to seize more than 8,000 kilograms (17,600 pounds) of cocaine and 1,200 kilograms (2,600 pounds) of crystal meth as well as dismantle 19 synthetic drugs labs and take control of dozens of firearms.

AP

Police say the tools found in the chamber 'were likely intended to torture victims or at least put them under pressure'.

The encrypted messages referred to the torture chamber as the 'treatment room' or 'ebi', which is a top security Dutch prison. The messages also explained who some of the victims were.

Six men have been arrested for kidnapping and hostage taking.

A statement from police said: "In each of the cells, handcuffs were attached to the ceiling and floor, in order to be able to chain someone standing up with their arms raised.

"The rooms were finished with noise isolating panels and heat-insulating foil. The sea container with the dental chair contained bags with objects that were presumably intended to torture or at least put pressure on victims," the statement added.

AP

"The police found, among other things, pruning shears, loppers, a branch saw, scalpels, pliers, extra handcuffs, fingercuffs, tape, balaclavas, and black cotton bags that can be pulled over the head."

It's taken months for officers to find the container and their investigations also led to other discoveries.

They managed to find 24kgs of MDMA during a search at a home in Rotterdam, three stolen delivery vans, two BMWs, seven handguns and a Chinese variant of an AK-47.

They also found a whopping 25 weapons.

EncroChat, is an instant phone messaging service that is used by 60,000 people around the world. The UK's National Crime Agency says it's often used as a 'criminal marketplace' to coordinate the distribution of illicit goods, money laundering and plotting to kill rivals.

Featured Image Credit: AP

Topics: News