i've been safely evacuated after it, collides with a small appliance, a cold fire tokyo sunday to apple 5 crew members on the smaller plan to get a more well news at the top of the out of next on dw, the base rates close up. looks that be toxic waste to generate, to advise producing time specimens. the fact it causes the fast fashion as an environmental 9 a clothing graveyard image of land desert. this is where things wealthy industrial nations no longer need and lightest textile waste gets stranded. fashion watch now on youtube,

we joined the debts police on the trail of drug mafia gags. i think we're on to something on producing synthetic drugs. not only requires a lot of chemicals, it also produces tons of highly toxic waste, which usually ends up in the environment. the homes in children here driven by greed, the cartels often pressure residents and to cooperating and take also a farmer received a threatening letter in the letter box. the item it read. we know where your children go to school. anything that you can look schools into how dangerous is this toxic waste for humans and the environment the

across the border in western germany, there are problems too. this is a sleepy village north of b like fit. in april 2019 a startling discovery was made. the ones i've got before send us, but once we just couldn't imagine that such a large drug lab could be set up on our doorstep in this village without anyone noticing on wanted us to come to russ laurie heads up the local volunteer fire department one sunday morning during breakfast, he saw something shocking looking out of the window, there was a fire raging not far from his home. right next to his workshop. lorry drove straight over. just as he arrived, 2 strangers were leading the burning building, which belong to a local business man, and came over to come at that moment. 2 men came out of the building and with one of them had a gas mask constitute

a musket old. they let the scene in advance. other firefighters from rough lower east departments, then arrived. they entered the building to investigate. at 1st, they didn't know what to make of it. they were countless propane gas cylinders, all stockton, the entrance area. it was almost impossible to get through. the explosive cylinders were not only dangerous, but also highly unusual. why would anyone need so much gas? you must the sheer amount of it was suspicious enough. further inside they found 1000 leader canisters filled with chemicals. likely both toxic and explosive density to it. so what involved the whole thing was a bit overwhelming showing that when do we see over the next few hours it became clear that laurie and his team were not dealing with a normal fire. they had stumbled upon the largest drug laboratory ever found injured. many of

the, the netherlands. it's december 2022. we are in the province. evelyn book we're out with an under cover investigator from the judge police to protect his identity. we're hiding his face and have distorted his voice. we'll call him young boys as well. sure. it's always good and i'm very exciting to be out at night. we have information that there might be a drug lab somewhere here in building in a village near here. yeah, we don't know if there are people there now from the special task force will go in 1st to check it out and make sure the areas safe. if there are people inside, they'll be arrested. and if there are weapons they'll be confiscated or so now i'm stuck on the wall from them. who should i follow your follow you? are you who the guy with the toyota to better in the good you about

the most common synthetic drugs aren't ecstasy which is consumed in pill form. speed which can be snorted. and crystal mass, the crystal form of methamphetamine which can be smoke score also snorted. young boy goes and his team, meanwhile, are getting ready to storm the drug lab they discovered as while investigating undercover the, the police approaching convoy heavily armed. special forces unit is in the black man. they also had a bulldozer ready to tear open the gates. so the special task force can enter quickly and surprise anyone who may be inside the doors open. the going in the wearing gas masks to protect themselves from the

chemicals used in drug production, the police store and the building, the at the 1st store, the officers find nothing. you could try all the doors. it's building 52 d or 2 d id. it should we open at the door, someone there. the police break open a 2nd door and then a 3rd the loud center move inside the warehouse. they were barrels of the chemicals or something. so the telephone will now come and check them. and i think it'll be a good hall. you think of it from the, from the l. f. o is the department of the debts,

police force that specializes in chemicals used in drugs. when something suspicious is found, they go in after the special forces unit to check whether there are hazardous substances and secure the scene. or know what they've done in inspection to see what's in the lab. and if there are any toxic chemicals. but once we get the okay, from them, we can go in to your game. we're going come with me going to run out of you now the other police officers can enter the building. we're going into the collision from our colleagues from the left. so say no drugs have been produced here. yes. so this is a laboratory under construction. it'd be, this is where this stuff is. this is all this whole a truck to try is heading up the l. s. o operation. he's been taking

a closer look at the chemicals and these are things that are too level for this as a drug laboratory under construction. the great we see here a very large boiler tank with a capacity of around 1000 leaders of do the move that are all sorts of function devices over 5, they still have to be assembled is here. and there's a guide. another look at the size of that tank. you could portal several 100 leaders of chemicals in there. once you think you go. and this will have guy cannot say, because look at the chemicals over here. the side of the things you there in this tent of the variables it contains form of mind or form like asset humans and phosphoric acid eats. and instead of main laboratory, almost ready to begin production, the chemicals would be mixed and heated in large metal containers using gas burner . and there are tons of chemicals, toxic assets that would have produced around 1000 kilos of amphetamines,

with the street value of 1000000 zeros in just one week, the gen blacklist and his colleagues drove. and that was a special investigator for drug laboratories. have seen many such crime scenes was a, was almost once a bit unusual about there's places that here of the chemicals. here is the laboratory. and next to it is a room where people who work here can sleep or have a cup of coffee from clinton from a. this is all i'll spend, the thing is once the process is running, you can't interrupted. how much do i stick with it once? and if something goes wrong, you have to be able to intervene so strong. and i mean, that's where things get especially problematic. because the people who make these drugs and most of them don't usually know what to do if it goes wrong from steven office. and so sometimes there are accidents and people get seriously hurt because things explode. and so on. the items, what we've seen at all, i usual magazine,

the netherlands is europe's biggest center for producing synthetic drugs. by chance, the police also stumbled on account of his plantation nearby during their operation . but here the investigators are more concerned about the synthetic drugs as they involve toxic chemicals. very few of the drug makers or chemists and aware of the dangers, fires and explosions occurred time and again, local residents are also at risk, even though most of them have no idea what's happening in their neighborhood. the induced, assess the various chemical vapors are released on it during the process. see, i've been monoxide can be released, which is dangerous. i think that's more a still would like us to trace might even be high enough to kill someone if it's

ever since on. so that's why the special unit that went in was 1st, where wearing protective suits should often they include masks that filter out these substances so they can work safely. item gun in usually don't seem to be so pretty clean here because the lab was still under construction licenses. it's usually the case that once they start producing the place, gets pretty dirty, leasing at least to know what's the most that you like. and they don't know exactly what they're doing sign so there may be chemicals everywhere, one bytes. and you have to be careful where your statute thankful. otherwise your shoes might melt away and burn. it's quite dangerous, and i've got a stronger feeling. large quantities of toxic waste are produced during the manufacturer of the drugs. the desk police told us the 1st 1000 kilos of amphetamines in this laboratory would have produced up to 30000 kilos, toxic waste. so what happens to them waste?

back in germany, in the city of this sort of we find answers from the state criminal police force, forensic scientist. you ahead of time. i'm a linda chemical analyses of a huge drug laboratory found near b live and in 20. 19 it too, was a laboratory for producing amphetamines, including speed. thanks to 3 d imaging, you know, towards a crime scene from his computer. does his private make all of this of the video from the warehouse to the outside? when congress dot, you can then turn around and have a view into the building leads. you can see a lot of canister stuart here. come this for these. i'd be seized with a capacity of 1000 liters for moving some contain waste chemicals and volume. further back are the ones with pure chemicals used to synthesize the drug test, wouldn't. there were 2 rooms setup for the synthesizing of amphetamines, a break room for the drug makers. and elaborate ventilation system to filter out

the toxic vapors and transport them outside equipment for producing 1000 leaders of amphetamine. oil per week, well shielded from the outside world, plus $30000.00 leader canisters for storing chemicals and toxic waste. and here the investigators made a shocking discovery inside this, i know there one of the canisters at the back is crucial states. let's zoom in closer on the, on the farm. in movement, at the moment the photo was taken. there was still a bag on top of the outlet east of the moles, but we later discovered a deep, well that had been drilled here is where the waste was being emptied into the ground when he up fella. expressions inside, outside you all your life. and for the whole wind down 12 meters below the surface, the investigators were alarmed the chemical waste with not only contaminate the soil and kill plants, animals, and micro organisms. any person who came into contact with the caustic chemicals

could also burn their skin. and if they drink that contaminated groundwater could even damage their internal organs. the the police investigation showed the laboratory, had only been in operation for a few weeks. it was set up by a dutch gang a short circuit, probably triggers of fire in the plant. luckily, the laboratory had only been able to produce a small amount of drugs and therefore hadn't discharged much waste. and environmental reports found no acute risk to local residents. the fuel let's and are no longer possible to determine how much a seed into the ground and what we believed. it was only a few 100 leaders ago who at least from the tank that was connected at the time. so you can turn that off to a on this list involved. back in the netherlands,

investigator young boy goes, is visiting the public prosecutor's office in monterey. he's investigating a case of chemicals, trafficking, and wants to discuss the next steps with public prosecutor and groups, mates. appointments like this are not uncommon for young boy, this drug production is blooming in the netherlands. ecstasy and speed produced here can make it all the way to us to really 80 percent of dodge may drugs or an exported one. european studies found that the cartels sell 19000000000 zeros worth every year. a destructive business all around it from the resulting chemical waste pollutes the far as what runs into rivers so low. it's not good for wild life, but it's not good for people either. when children play in the area, they come into contact with the chemicals. it's dangerous. so this young boy, this is taking

a criminal investigator from amsterdam to see an illegal drug dumpsite shown i'm a bomb, is investigating the phenomenon of drug waste throughout the country. she's hoping that young boy goes can give her information on what's happening in the province of symbol. it's an area of particular interest because it live close to the border with germany and belgium. a thing here in the neighborhood area that are, that this very close to the borders is very different. for instance, in, in the and northern region open at an end or the eastern region of threat of state or the netherlands. the big question is, are the drug producers transporting their waste and disposing of it far away from the laboratories to minimize the risk of detection? or are they disposing at a close by which is cheaper and easier if you want to know how far it didn't work, then waste is terrific. you have to know where it comes from. and often we don't need to know it. um there there's,

there's too many dumb things to analyze the contents. there's also a terry bit and like be like professional bumpers who collect the ways from shuffle production locations and then dump it at one spot. youngblood. let's choose china made about a dumping site right on the german dashboard and a dillard rule location. during the day, the area is popular with walkers and cyclists, but at night it's quiet. the field is surrounded by woods, perfect place to dispose of waste. if you look at this, or the good thing is at least that it's in containers. so the waste is contained, but you can see that this kind of message spreading around to the is a risk of that. it's going to leak and then it would be dangerous if you get in contact with the substances cells. but this can be verse, there are cases where the waste is directly dumped into the land or into the water . and this can, has to fear results for plans with those before animals or the yeah,

the 1st responders, the dutch authorities find around $200.00 such dump sites every year. sometimes the drug producers simply dumped the waste into the sewage system. but if the chemicals reach a certain concentration, they disrupt the function of the sewage treatment plants. so with this option, there's a high risk of detection. throughout her investigation, shannon mail bomb has found that the cartels dispose of 70 percent of their toxic waste in sparsely populated nature reserve. they often steal cars or trucks, load them full of waste and then abandoned them or set them on fire. for they bribed farmers to let them mix the smelly waste into the liquid mon. newer the chemicals are then spread out onto the fields. dutch police find $250000.00 kilos of drug waste every year. but according to estimates, that's only a 3rd of the actual amount of waste produced,

the probably the criminal networks are getting better in hiding the 12th waste of disclosing it and waste as we don't easily detect a germany's criminal police office in response concern is also growing about the dangers of drug waste. the large lab discovered near beulah said shows the dutch drug mafia is also active in germany, and the waste doesn't stop at the border either side doesn't often goes on for 2018 . there was a case where a truck was simply driven across the border, answer the phone on to unplug it. so the police officer noticed the brown liquid leaking out of it, and the contained at 10 tons of production waste. myisha inputs is another forensic scientist and a chemist. before he explains what actually makes the waste so toxic, he shows us the drugs that the police have confiscated. i know this is a bag of ecstasy, tablets, depiction,

the bags inside it contain around 100000 tablets 6. and she told me that this is, i looked on slide tests and you don't know if this is one of 2 bags that were cced and one home and a 1000 pounds. so 200000 tablets and total cost plus and ecstasy tablet typically sells for round $5.00 euro soon to. so these 2 bags alone have a street value around 1000000 euro sleif. when this impression i'm getting that for the 1000000 euros for 2 bags. that's an indication of just how much money can be made from these drugs. it explains why the producers are willing to handle toxic chemicals without fully understanding what they're doing. michelle puts them, does a little experiment to demonstrate just how dangerous the chemicals are and get them off at the new level. but in every amphetamine laboratory you'll find at least 2 of these 4 assets often and very large quantities. hang. so is this the concentrated cost for the gas, essentially the concentrated form, a gas that they just move concentrated, so fear aggressive to design and concentrated hydrochloric acid, ease of use oil, and you'd want to pose a specific dangers of hours for me. yeah. so for example,

releases carbon monoxide to bits, eat it too much, it's good quote, monarch suit fire this way and that's why fatal accidents occurring amphetamine laboratories and they'll do to common monoxide poisoning on friend flavor. cool, now let's look at the effect of concentrated so if you're a gas it on organic materials will come fun content for you to see if it's live or gone to so much for the items you're getting material he's going to use is simple household sugar. it consists of nothing other than carbohydrates, a basic building block of life found in the cells of our bodies. so what happens? the ass, it breaks down, or rather burns the sugar within just a short time. that's with all my name. this would have the same effect on living systems, so i could equally burn the surface of my skin and the question for addition to corrosive assets. the waste contains other substances which are likely dangerous to

dispatch them off. is this, the bad news is that all of these organic substances that are by products, some emphatically in synthesis have not actually been pharmacologic. we studied regardless. so it's not exactly possible to say what toxic effect and they'll likely have they shouldn't talk such a vocal funding, or experts suspect that the drug waste contains carcinogenic substances. but whether they could pose a risk to humans in nature has not yet been properly researched. in 2018, a study from the netherlands found residues of the chemical waste and corn and therefore in the food chain. but was that an isolated case or evidence of something more widespread? nobody knows. as there's no regular screening for these chemicals, the cartels appear to have been busy expanding their activities in rural areas. young boy goes, meets with a spokes person for the nimble farming community. the under cover investigator

wants to know what experience the farmers have had with the mafia, becomes clear that the gangs are specifically targeting store houses and barns to produce drugs and hide waste and that of the okay, so let me give you an example of what a google farmer received a threatening letter in the letter box. it read and addresses. we know where your children go to school. they can also, we're going to see you, then you're gone and we'll talk the problem. in other words, it doesn't, farmers are being blackmail and intimidated into continuing to do this and even look like this up or into making their premises available, even though they no longer want to meet. most of the farmer ties to run through the bank has himself been lucky so far. unlike other farmers and friends of his, he has not yet been approached by the drug producers. he's all too aware of that. standing up to the brutal and financially powerful cartels is not easy. so how can the problem of the drug labs be brought under control?

the one possibility would be to target the root of the problem by taking chemicals used in drug production out of circulation before they can get into the wrong hands. the substances are mostly brought to europe by sea, from china arriving here at the port of hamburg. for example, customs investigators have received a tip off. they're following a truck that may be transporting drug chemicals. so every single container, we've picked up a container here, a container terminal, which we will now take to the volume, this whole area to be x rate splitting the tri, it is put into a huge x ray machine where its contents can be scanned. the, with the image on the computer,

just appear to show anything suspicious stuff. i've been patched different. i'm finished. can you come over the all settings? so i've studied the x ray, let's look at it together. so i haven't found any irregularities. and the container itself is also negative. the content of your chain or itself is negative, no sign of manipulation. that's what i'm let me show you again here. my. yeah. but the x ray images only provide a limited view to continue. so the investigators decide to break open the container mind arnold was for my impression is that the goods are ultimately no different from what we've already seen on the x ray image. we can also see now during the manual inspection that the goods are packed in different ways. and then we have a few more packages on top, which was also clearly visible on the x ray,

because the not you can just hit sounds like there's, there's nothing on here that gives rise to suspicion that would justify a more in delegate inspection, having good from our point of view, we can now say the goods are okay also in the us. now. since the 19 ninety's, germany and the netherlands have had a list of chemicals that are considered precursors for drug production. the substances are subject to customs controls, but the drug producers regularly change their formulas. plus many companies also use these chemicals for completely legal purposes. so the work of the customs officers is like searching for a needle in a haystack. and can only get the fraction of the containers thorough check the

back in the netherlands. the authorities are now trying to enlist the help, but the general public. their hope is that this could allow new laboratories to be discovered more quickly. the chair of a former police officer is explaining to local people how a drug laboratory works and what it smells like. they have got that is the whole c, m, k is a precursor of m d m a, which is the active ingredient in x and x. and next to see, right, when i ask young people that they know the answer to a and b m. k smells a little bit like a nice the hope is that vigilant residency noticed a suspicious smell in the neighborhood will report it to the police. it can then disrupt the operations of the drug cartels and thereby stop them spreading. i'm, we're on the road again with young boy this. she wants to show us another crime scene . so you can feel by the to garage is where we were a few months ago, the lar,

this is where the laboratory was probably was the laboratory wasn't number 4 and the chemicals were number 5. it's very dangerous when they're right next to each other like that. to me, but on the thing the drug producers simply dump their toxic waste into the adjacent stream, which then became contaminated. it had to be cleaned up at great expense. your water. this is where it was smoke, who's came around the corner and led down into the water. people live all around here, one more children to play here, there and animals and house patches that might drink from the water. yes, it's very worrying to out every year, the dutch government spend $6000000.00 euros on clean up operations like this one. the wider risks are rarely examined closely. and in germany, the problem gets even less attention. the authorities don't keep

a central record of how many illegal drug waste dumps are identified per each and each year the so either insane and do the same way. cubic 6 and one different thing is from life when your parents do i just want to pursue what that's my thought or you think your kid is 2 different, risky, irresponsible, reasonable stopping port in those nonsense? i was under the dr. joe in the cloud. it's time to to get the new generation

was a sleep asked and then when generations flash starts, january 14th on dw is kind of fun. it feels like therapy. the to this group is funding for some of the wealth rarest egg. they're searching for the endangered tv bugs of a, a tail roland. you ceiling to steal their eggs and save them from predators. almost 95 percent of teachers are killed in the wild. if nothing is done, they will likely disappear. in new zealand, we call our sales kaylee would be pretty bad if we need to.