Dominic Smithers
Sinister photos have been shared of a 'torture chamber' found by Dutch police inside a shipping container. Watch the raid below:
Officers in the Netherlands came across the disturbing find during an investigation into organised crime and the drug trade back in 2020.
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The operation led the team to a warehouse in a rural area close to the border with Belgium, in which they found seven shipping containers.
According to the Dutch National Police, the containers, which were discovered in June of that year, were lined with soundproofing material and fitted with cameras.
Six of the containers are believed to have potentially been used to keep people against their will, with handcuffs found on the floor and ceiling.
The other container, however, had a dentist chair inside, which was fitted with ankle and wrist restraints.
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Police also found a number of tools inside the containers, including pliers, saws and scalps, aswell as a bag that had police uniforms and bulletproof vests inside.
Following the investigation, which began back in April when officers began looking into a man from The Hague suspected of drug trafficking, six people were arrested on suspicion of planning to kidnap, of hostage-taking, extortion, and participation in a criminal organisation.
According to reports, police had been monitoring communications made between criminals on the EncroChat network, which described kidnappings and acts of torture.
Suspects had reportedly used the term 'EBI' when referring to the containers, which is said to have been a reference to the Extra Beveiligde Inrichting, a secure Dutch prison.
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One message intercepted by police read: "If I have him on the chair more will come."
Koos Plooij told a court in Amsterdam during the latest hearing in the case against 11 suspects accused of organising the murder of rivals at the site, that the level of violence prevalent in the drug trade was a “repulsive, but apparently unavoidable".
Plooij believes these findings should remind recreational cocaine users of the consequences of their habits.
He said: "The question is how many people are willing to admit that there is indeed a connection between their cocaine use – whether it is to party, deal with work stress or suppress psychological problems – and the underworld that is happy to answer demand but according to its own rules: corrupting, undermining, tough, sparing nothing and nobody."
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One of the men accused is Roger 'Piet Costa' P, who is said to have been the ringleader.
During the hearing, prosecutors shared a message intercepted by police that was allegedly sent by Costa.
It read: "There are a few now and I hope I get the chance to torture them."
Prosecutors are looking for a 12-year jail sentence for Costa, who is already facing almost 18 years behind bars for a separate conviction.
All defendants deny the charges.