THE HAGUE - Nine soldiers were arrested on Monday morning on suspicion of owning and supplying hard drugs. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee made this announcement last Monday. Three soldiers were arrested at their home address, the others at barracks.

Five soldiers were arrested at the Johannes Post barracks in Havelte, another at the Oranjekazerne in Schaarsbergen. The arrests were made by order of the public prosecutor of the Eastern Netherlands District Court, according to the police.

The Marechaussee has not disclosed anything about the identity of the military. A spokesperson said that he would not release anything further about the matter. The East Netherlands Public Prosecution Service is investigating the case.

At the beginning of July, a Dutch soldier was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking from Curaçao. Cocaine was discovered the day before in a container on a naval base on the island. This was supposed to be transported to the Netherlands. A year earlier the Marechaussee found a large number of drugs at the Van Braam Houckgeestkazerne in Doorn.

Photo credit: Remko de Waal