Eight people were arrested after over 1,000 music fans, many from abroad, attended an illegal rave at an old furniture factory in Peer (Limburg). In addition, 77 charge sheet were issued in connection with alcohol abuse and drugs offences. 15 vehicles carrying equipment for the rave were seized.
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Quick police action stops illegal rave ‘set to attract 15,000’ (VIDEO)
Colin Clapson
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The last revellers left at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. ‘We are very happy that we were able to stop this illegal rave, but we always said we wanted to do it in a safe way,’ said mayor Steven Matheï.
The rave took place in the buildings of the former Heylen furniture factory. Given the large size of the site, it was not easy for police to simply intervene, Mr Matheï stressed.
‘Never more than 1,200 revellers’
‘By setting up very meticulous checks we made sure no more people could access the site,’ he explains.
‘We were able to confiscate equipment and that stopped people from coming. Up to 10-15,000 people were expected for an event set to continue till Monday. But there were never more than 1,000 to 1,200 people on the site.’
It is not entirely clear who organised the illegal rave. ‘That is what the police investigation will have to find out. We did manage to establish that many Dutch people in cars with Dutch license plates were present,’ Mr Matheï added.
‘I want to emphasise this was not just a party where people could have fun. It was an illegal break-in in buildings where criminal organisations were also active. There were a lot of drugs. People were all drugged up. We absolutely cannot tolerate things like that. Sometimes people say: let people party, but this was much more than that.’
An anonymous raver from the Netherlands believes the mayor was a spoilsport: ‘Everyone was just standing about having fun. There was music, dancing, fun. That's the idea. It's just one big group of close-knit people who want to party together, because going to festivals has become really expensive. Police kept an eye on everything with a helicopter and drones, but as far as I know no crazy things happened here.’
