14- and 15-year-old suspects arrested for attempted explosion

Last week, Van Speykstraat was often the target of excessive violence. Tuesday morning, April 25, around 3 a.m., an explosive went off, damaging several homes. On Wednesday, April 26, an adjacent building was shot at around 06:00 in the morning.

Previous arrest

The police are working with all their might to investigate these violent incidents and the explosions and shooting incidents elsewhere in the region, including those on Crooswijkseweg. On Wednesday evening, a 32-year-old man of no fixed abode or abode was already arrested in this investigation.

Detect and prevent

Not only are the police investigating the incidents that have taken place, they are also working hard to prevent new incidents. Analysts investigate the backgrounds, people involved and make estimates of times and places when the risks are highest. Officers on the street adjust their increased surveillance to this. The live viewing of cameras present in the city is also adjusted to the threat present. The latter resulted in the arrest of two boys aged 14 and 15 early this morning. Both from Rotterdam.

Caught in the collar

At 3:20 a.m., officers who watched the CCTV footage saw two people suspiciously loitering in front of a building on Van Speykstraat. They immediately sent agents from the mobile surveillance to it. They quickly apprehended the suspects. There was an explosive in front of the door of the building. Police explosives scouts examined the package found at the front door. The situation was safe at around 6:30 am. Investigations have yet to show whether the arrested persons are actually involved in the explosive found. The connection with the previous incidents is also still being investigated.

Reporting helps

It is not the first time that an explosion has been prevented by early reporting of a suspicious situation. This time it was officers via camera surveillance, but last March it was a local resident in Vlaardingen who very alertly reported a suspicious situation that prevented an explosion. If you see a suspicious situation or if you have information that may be important in the ongoing investigations or to prevent new attacks, please call 0900-8844. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can call M. on 0800-7000. You can also contact the Criminal Intelligence Team with information. The police TCI team is trained in confidentially and secretly obtaining information from tipsters that needs to be protected. You can leave your information with them safely and protected via 088 – 661 77 34.