The drug gang’s horrific torture chamber

Since time immemorial, torture has been a popular method of tormenting people until they reveal information. Torture is particularly popular among criminal organizations as a means of inflicting physical and mental pain on their rivals and relatives. One such criminal organization, which even set up a torture container, was a Dutch drug gang. The leader of the gang was Roger P., better known as Costa Piet, who had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for cocaine smuggling. He ordered the construction of a kind of underworld prison after several million euros had been stolen from him. Everything came to light after security authorities hacked the messaging service EncroChat, which the gang members had used to discuss planned kidnappings and torture. After investigators cracked the encrypted chat, a raid followed on June 22, 2020, in the village of Wouwse Plantage, population 1,200, in the Dutch province of Brabant. Brabant is the Mecca of drug trafficking in the Netherlands, where not only ecstasy and speed are produced, but cocaine is also traded on a large scale. In a warehouse, Roger P. had seven shipping containers converted, six of which served as prison cells equipped with toilets and handcuffs on the floor and ceiling. But one of these containers was set up as a torture chamber that sent a cold shiver down the spines of even the most hardened investigators. Inside was a converted dentist’s chair with straps and restraints for the arms and legs. Like all the containers, the room was soundproofed and equipped with cameras. The room contained countless pliers, finger clamps, garden shears, gas burners, cable ties, insulating tape, and surgical instruments to be used to torture the victims. During the raid, a chest, a freezer large enough to hold several people, and a mortar mixing container, which was presumably to be used for waterboarding, were also seized. This method of torture involves simulated drowning, in which the torturer places a cloth over the victim’s face and pours water over their mouth and nose, triggering a gag reflex that can cause pain and lung damage. The lack of oxygen can cause brain damage and other physical injuries. The drug gang had planned everything carefully. The victims were observed by its members, who were then to be kidnapped. To do this, the gang wanted to pose as a special police unit. This was indicated by the police uniforms, stop signs, blue lights, bulletproof vests, and a variety of weapons found during the raid. However, everything was exposed via the hacked crypto communication. A total of 11 men were charged in Amsterdam who, according to messages such as “We need enough belts and cable ties to tie them up” or “We need pliers for their fingers and toes,” wanted to kidnap, blackmail, and torture their criminal enemies and their relatives. Allegedly, the target was the drug gang of Moroccan-Dutch drug lord Ridouan Taghi, with whom they were engaged in a bloody gang war. Roger P. was sentenced to an additional 33 months in prison, his right-hand man, 41-year-old Robin van O., was sentenced to eight years in prison and has since died of cancer, and nine other men also received prison sentences, while one man was acquitted. The construction of the underworld prison with its horrific torture chamber made headlines around the world and is considered a new dimension of crime.