King Willem-Alexander inadvertently revealed he’s a fan of a certain TV series while learning more about the drug trade in the Netherlands on 20 April.
Saying it felt like the hit drama “Breaking Bad,” the Dutch King had a look around a recreation of a drug lab used for educational purposes.
“Interesting to see it in practice,” he said, viewing the synthetic drug lab and cannabis farm to learn more about how drugs are produced and sold in the country.
While observing a centrifuge used to make speed, the King remarked, “I still remember that one. I last saw it in the 1970s in a house in Austria.”
King Willem-Alexander was visiting the area of Winssen to hear more about the challenges locals, especially farmers, face in terms of criminals and the drug trade.
Due to their remote (and discreet) locations, farmers are often approached by drug dealers offering cash to use their land or empty buildings, with one farmer telling Willem-Alexander that “dirty types with sunglasses” had stopped by.
“Luckily, I’m not wearing sunglasses today,” the King quipped. He also heard more about other farming issues, including how many children don’t want to take over the family business, which makes those farmers even more vulnerable to drug-dealing gangs.
“Undermining is a problem that occurs throughout the Netherlands,” King-Willem Alexander said.
In fact, a 2018 survey (via the Irish Times) revealed that 15 to 20 per cent of Dutch farmers have been approached by such criminals looking to pay them to produce drugs on their land.
“Many farmers are getting older, there’s nobody to take over the business, they’re in debt, and their buildings are lying empty,” a police officer told the Irish Times. “In that situation, it can be tempting, very hard to say no.”
King Willem-Alexander also spoke to police officers and the Public Prosecution Service during his visit to hear what measures they were taking to stop this type of crime in the Dutch countryside.
