November 25, 2020

Robbers auction off 300 stolen cheeses

Filed under: Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 12:03 pm

A cheese farm in Lievelde, Gelderland was recently robbed of 300 cheeses in the middle of the night. Soon after, the cheeses were being sold on Dutch auction site Marktplaats. In connection with the robbery, the police caught a man and a woman (insert Bonnie and Clyde cheese joke) who were probably not the masterminds behind the operation, and have been let go.

The robbers caused between 30,000 and 40,000 euro worth of damages to the shop that thankfully is insured. Back in 2016 there was a wave of robberies in the same area, with at least six cheese farms robbed of 10,000 euro worth of cheese, including the one in Lievelde.

(Link: waarmaarraar.nl, Photo of Gouda by Jon Sullivan, released into the public domain by its author)

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November 15, 2020

Scooter rider misbehaves in Rotterdam, gets jailed in Italy

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 3:41 pm

On 14 November a woman decided to drive over the sidewalk in Rotterdam with her scooter, ending up ramming an automatic teller. As luck would have it, she got caught by the police.

Then, she wasn’t able to produce a driver’s licence for the scooter or identify herself, as she didn’t have any ID on her. In the Netherlands everyone over 14 year of age is obliged to identify themselves if the police asks.

When the cops figured out who she was, they also found out that she was supposed to be doing three years of jail time in Italy for a drug-related crime.

The moral of the story: don’t try and get caught if you’re trying to avoid getting caught.

(Link: ad.nl, Photo by Facemepls, some rights reserved)

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May 28, 2020

Shop on Belgian-Dutch border off limits to both countries

Filed under: Food & Drink,Weird by Orangemaster @ 2:24 pm

Bart Cuypers’ beer shop Bierparadijs (‘Beer Paradise’) is technically in Belgium, but only accessible from exit A16, leading to an industrial area that borders the Netherlands. Due to Covid-19, Belgium, like many other European countries, is policing its border, in this case some 100 metres from the beer shop.

Cuypers doesn’t currently have any customers, and like many other businesses he’s getting some government support to keep up the place and its employees until he’s able to operate more normally. Right now everybody wants beer but there’s no decent way to get to it.

The Dutch could get to his shop as long as they take another exit just before the border check, which is meant for people entering Belgium. However, the Dutch cannot go to Belgium without a valid reason, and jokes aside, stocking up on beer is not a valid reason. The Dutch are 98% of Cuypers’ clients, as many beers are 25% cheaper in Belgium than in the Dutch supermarkets.

Back in 2008 we told you about a murder on the border and sorting that out was quite complicated.

(Link: volkskrant.nl)

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November 4, 2019

Police pose with pickpocket, then arrest him

Filed under: General,Photography by Branko Collin @ 10:18 am

Last Friday, while one police officer in Amsterdam was taking a photo of a pickpocket stealing a wallet, another police officer took a photo of their colleague taking a photo.

The pickpocket had entered a train waiting at Amsterdam Central Station and sat backwards in his chair to be able to reach into his mark’s pocket. After finishing their photographic hobbies, the police officers got on the train and arrested the thief.

A police officer’s testimony counts as evidence in Dutch criminal cases, so the officers were not required to take a photo of the pickpocket first. They did so nevertheless, and have not said why.

Two weeks ago, Dutch parliament asked questions about high resolution photos depicting murder victim and FC Emmen football player Kelvin Maynard as he was fighting for his life after having been shot in Amsterdam. MP Chris van Dam (Christian Democrats) thought this was disrespectful. Asked if the police aren’t stepping in the shoes of the press if they themselves start taking and distributing photos, minister Grapperhaus (Justice and Security) replied that the police have the right to inform the public.

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July 26, 2019

Rotterdam police asks robbers not to run, too hot

Filed under: Weird by Orangemaster @ 12:28 pm

politie-uniform-2016

Rotterdam police has posted on Twitter that they’d like potential robbers not to run if told to stop because the cops won’t run in this heat. Cue jokes about fitness, but then we don’t have ‘donut shop cops’ here, cops look quite fit. But it’s too darn hot.

“Should the temperature drop under 20 degrees, we’ll run again”, they added. That’s going to take a while.

Their tweet probably won’t help. I wonder want those teenage girls helping the police catch pickpockets in Rotterdam are doing these days.

(Link: waarmaarraar.nl, image politie.nl)

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June 5, 2019

Police app helps people help the police

Filed under: Dutch first,Technology by Orangemaster @ 7:18 pm

Dutch police and Public Prosecution Service have launch an app, allowing civilians victims of theft to help the police with their investigation. It is currently being tested for two months in four police regions: Rotterdam, East Netherlands, Northern Netherlands and East Brabant.

Although there are apps that people can use like Find My Phone after a theft or using WhatsApp for neighbourhood watch, this is the first time Dutch police are letting civilians help them solve crimes. Another good reason to open this door is that many civilians take action themselves if they fall victim to a crime, which can hinder investigations. Then again, many people feel that the police is not doing anything when they don’t get the results they want, so using this app can keep them busy in a productive way.

It is important to note that this app is in no way meant for people doing the police’s work. A spokesperson for the police, Oscar Dros, said “We genuinely see it as a form of cooperation.”

(Link: iamexpat.nl, Photo by Facemepls, some rights reserved)

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March 21, 2019

Dutch family caught with 3300 kilos of coke

Filed under: Animals,General by Orangemaster @ 3:38 pm

A Dutch father and his two sons living in Spain and Germany were caught by the police with a staggering 3300 kilos of cocaine back in 2017. They gave themselves up and are now in prison in the Netherlands, and I guess now the press can talk about it.

The cocaine, which was found in Hazeldonk near Breda, Noord Brabant, known as an important corridor between the Netherlands and Belgium, was hidden in a shipment of bananas from South America that was to be transported from Antwerp to the Netherlands.

Back in 2017, the owners of the transport company and the driver were arrested and a police team starting investigating to find out who was behind the smuggle. They did as you do and followed the money, and found villas, cash and expensive cars.

And because of a rough news week in the Netherlands with a terrible shooting and a racist party getting more leverage in the Dutch senate after yesterday’s elections, here’s a short video of a goat riding a sheep that I know I needed to watch.

(Link: nos.nl, Photo of wilted tulip by Graham Keen, some rights reserved)

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January 4, 2019

Criminal tries trump card to stay out of jail

Filed under: Weird by Orangemaster @ 10:31 am

Police in Rotterdam arrested a man for threatening his ex and possessing weapons and possibly guns while entering her home. This information was not completely correct, but the man did violate his parole and had to go to prison.

Once arrested, the man showed the cops a ‘get out of jail free’ card that comes with the world-famous Monopoly game and the cops had a good belly laugh.

“We gave the man credit for his originality and laughed really hard together, but unfortunately we’re putting him in jail.” And in jail the man will stay for 84 days.

(Link: waarmaarraar.nl)

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December 20, 2018

Criminal mistakes cop for partner, cops score big

Filed under: General,Weird by Orangemaster @ 1:37 pm

politie-uniform-2016

Last weekend, a criminal in Rotterdam was leaving a flat with hundreds of thousands of euro in a bag and mistook a plain clothes policeman in a car for his partner in crime. Oops.

When he realised he had messed up, he ran, tossing the bag full of cash and throwing the key to the flat in a ditch. Both were retrieved by the cops, one easily and one with a bit of fishing.

The cops checked out the flat in question, which was like hitting the jackpot. It had even more money in it, hard drugs, guns, a sealer for drugs and all kinds of gear to build an illegal cannabis plantation. There was also a big safe that was hoisted out of the flat with a crane – who knows what kind of goodies were in there, I’m guessing falsified documents.

The plain clothes cop was staking out the area, having seen the driver waiting on his friend drive quite poorly on the way there. Then, the driver got out of his car to make way for the stash in the boot and that’s when the ‘bagman’ knocked on the wrong car window.

This reads like the third act of a stupid television show.

(Link: crimesite.nl, Photo: of Dutch police officers politie.nl)

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November 19, 2018

Amsterdam cyclists are too good for red lights

Filed under: Bicycles by Orangemaster @ 12:16 pm

It’s definitely common to hear that cyclists in Amsterdam generally don’t obey traffic lights, but here’s some proof how bad and also how lucrative it can be.

The police decided to stop and fine cyclists blowing through red lights downtown Amsterdam on the Raadhuisstraat, close to the Palace on Dam Square. The cops weren’t even hiding their presence either and fined a whopping 50 cyclists in one hour, too good to wait for a green light.

Fining 50 cyclists at 90 euro a pop, means 4500 euro for one hour’s work. And we all thought parking was easy money for the city of Amsterdam.

The police say blowing through a red light saves them two minutes of waiting, 90 euro if they get caught and avoiding road accidents. The latter seems to be a brilliant idea.

(Link: at5.nl)

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