Gunmen in Deadly Dutch Village Raid Launched from Brussels
Gunmen who killed a Dutch security guard and wounded two officers in a September raid assembled at a Brussels warehouse hours before the attack, according to Brussels Signal.
Approximately 30 masked men, many armed with automatic rifles, arrived in two vans at a property on the Ewijkseweg in the village of Overasselt, Gelderland province, at around 4am on September 1. The assault force was composed primarily of Belgian and French nationals who had been rapidly recruited through encrypted social media platforms.
Berry Leenders, a 51-year-old security guard from the nearby town of Wijchen, was shot dead during the raid. When police arrived on scene, the gunmen opened fire, seriously wounding two officers. One was briefly in life-threatening condition, though both have since been reported out of danger.
Brussels Staging Ground
The attackers gathered at a Brussels warehouse where they were briefed on their mission shortly before departing for the Netherlands, as Brussels Signal reports. Some members of the group were reportedly unhappy with the assignment and participated under protest after being recruited at short notice.
The operation forced authorities to seal off Overasselt for an entire day, deploying the Special Intervention Service and ordering residents to remain indoors. Police have since arrested 35 individuals at various locations throughout the country, including Dutch, Belgian, French and Algerian nationals.
Minister Calls Violence “Unprecedented”
Justice Minister David van Weel characterized the violence as unprecedented for the Netherlands and attributed it to international drug cartels operating across European borders. While declining to identify those responsible, van Weel rejected characterizations of his country as a narco state, though he conceded that criminal networks have established a presence there.
A video circulating online following the shooting purportedly shows masked men confronting a resident of the targeted property, accusing him of stealing 1,283 kilograms of cocaine and demanding its return within 12 hours. Police have neither confirmed the footage’s authenticity nor established whether it relates to the raid, and have not publicly disclosed a motive.
Property With Criminal History
The farmhouse reportedly belongs to a 28-year-old man who has been arrested multiple times on drug trafficking suspicions. Investigators recovered a bag of firearms from a car park in Wijchen on September 2.
Heumen mayor Joerie Minses has ordered the property closed for one year and barred one resident from the municipality for two weeks. This marks the fourth closure since 2020, when the house was sealed following a fire at a drug laboratory on the premises. The building was targeted with at least 25 gunshots last year.
The Brussels connection emerges as the Belgian capital grapples with its own surge in drug-related violence, following a series of shootings in its southern police zone during August that left residents and law enforcement on high alert.
With information from Brussels Signal
