Mayor of Volendaal, Limburg, threatened: “Citizens are no longer surprised by the production of dangerous drugs”

Wil Houben, who has served as mayor for a decade, will retire in December. He will make a last-minute musical appearance early next month. El Dorado in Voorendal. The director is all too familiar with the theme of this work: subversion. In February 2018, Houben (VVD) was confronted by a masked man in front of his car on his way to work, who pointed a gun at him. Earlier, in the summer of 2017, the car of MP Patrick Leunissen (Democraten Voerendaal) caught fire in front of his house.

The suspects were two brothers from a caravan camp in Volendal who had been dealt with harshly by the municipality some time ago. Illegal activities in and around the camp were no longer tolerated but actively combated. Due to lack of evidence, no charges were filed.

Houben says the period did no permanent damage to him. “I know colleagues who are always wary of every car around them, who are shocked by every car that pulls up next to them. I don’t have that.” Houben points out that directors’ partners are often forgotten in such cases. “These types of cases can easily lead to symptoms similar to PTSD. My wife didn’t have that, but it was a strange situation. At night, former Marines hired and paid by the city patrolled the area around our home. In the mornings I went to work in two armored vehicles, which belong to the national “guard and security” system. Then she was home alone.”

A few weeks later, he asked for a reduction in security. “If they want me, they will succeed.”

He and his wife then visited a psychologist who specializes in the effects of threats. “After a two-hour conversation, he concluded that our relationship was fine. There was no point in constantly worrying about what might happen. If they wanted to kill me, they would probably do it.”

Once, the mayor had a relapse. “I was visiting family in the U.S. when I received the items ahead of time. Request for investigation Information about the case would be broadcast. This showed not only the threat but also the bigger picture. It gave me a horrible feeling but after repeated texting with a psychologist, I shook it off. ”

Community Service

In conversations with the King’s Commissioner, the Interior Minister and the Prime Minister at the time, Houben warned of the danger facing local managers. “I thought: I’m the first one to look in the barrel, and next time they’ll shoot another driver. Fortunately, it hasn’t come to that. The number of colleagues who are now dealing with threats has reached a scale that I couldn’t have imagined at the time.” Research from the Interior Ministry in 2022 shows that he is indeed not alone: ​​three quarters of 342 Dutch mayors have faced threats and intimidation.

Houben calls the fight against subversion “an ongoing civil war”. At the same time, he has the impression that more and more citizens are shrugging off the collapse of yet another cannabis plantation or ecstasy lab. “If their children are sleeping in the attic next door, their biggest concern is the fire hazard. If the guilty person gets away with community service or a few weeks of hard work, there is also a sense that this is almost pointless. This is a global business involving billions of euros.”

On his own street in the small village of Reitsbeck alone, quite a few plantations have been closed in recent years. “I go there every day with my dog. Apparently this doesn’t stop them.”

In recent years, Voerendaal has focused on a “holistic approach” to disruption. “Don’t limit yourself to criminal law, but use administrative law and involve multiple departments. For example, tax authorities, water and energy companies. It’s still difficult. Everyone is mainly busy with their own affairs. The tax authorities – especially after the welfare incident – immediately questioned the ‘privacy sensitivity’.”

There are two civil servants in Volendahl who have long been involved in subversive activities. Houben: “If it is just a matter of constantly pushing and pulling partners, twice as many would be good, because regional cooperation is also difficult to get off the ground.”

There are still too many “short hits,” Houben said. Authorities don’t have enough time to work together to crack down on the networks behind the crimes. “And that’s what subversion is all about: the interweaving of the upper class with the underworld.”

Grandma with a marijuana plantation

Sometimes Houben’s emotions get the better of him. “Not long ago, we found a cannabis plantation in an old lady’s house. It was sitting next to her ironing room. But the judge wouldn’t let us close the building because then the grandmother would be homeless. Meanwhile, the son, who had been collecting money from the proceeds for years, was in Sweden and had done nothing to get his mother housed again.”

In Volendaal, disruption has been on the agenda for years. And there has never been any discussion about the security of the homes of the mayor, city councillors and relevant officials. With the permission of the city council, cameras have been hung and emergency lighting has been installed.

At one point, there were doubts in local political circles whether the fight against destructive crime was placing too high a demand on the municipality. The village of Ubachsberg had a mink farm that caused a lot of nuisance and also housed a drug laboratory. “It was subsequently discovered that the soil was severely contaminated and needed to be remediated. The cost: 800,000 to 1 million euros. Such an amount is a burden on the budget of a municipality like Voorendal. In the end, the government covered the costs because emergency crisis accommodation could be provided for asylum seekers.”

The village quickly forgets “what problem we solved,” Hoben noted. “It’s just about that shelter. The question arises: What do we have left? Well, if the shelter leaves in a year and a half, it’s a clean piece of land on which to build a new school or additional housing.”

Amateur Drama

The mayor appeared in the show El Dorado It marks the beginning of his penultimate month as mayor. He will turn seventy in November. He will say goodbye on December 1.

“Let’s not forget that the mayor spends only 1 to 2 percent of his time working on subversion,” Huben said. This is the part of his office that he cares most about. He is the mayor’s liaison for the Secure Governance Network, which works to bring more security and integrity to political officials.

“I talked to the mayors who were threatened, and my wife, and possibly their partners. And to the rookie colleagues. I want to continue doing this after December 1. That way I’ll have more time.”

Hoben first had to master acting. With the help of the deputy mayor, he took turns playing roles in the play with the deputy mayor. “He does amateur drama. So I could learn from him.”

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