Dutch police seize 825 kg illegal fireworks, arrest nine suspects

During police operations in May and June, the Hague police unit confiscated more than 825 kg of illegal heavy fireworks across residential neighborhoods in the Netherlands. The haul included about 50 Cobra devices, each containing over 250 g of flash powder, far exceeding the legal limit of a standard Cobra 6 (48.5 g). Fireworks were found stored in homes, basement boxes and even bedrooms; one suspect kept 48 Cobra 20s under his bed, and another location held over 500 kg in a shed. Nine men – aged 18 to 53 and from Wateringen, Voorburg, The Hague, Amsterdam, Oosterhout, Kerk‑Averzaath and Rotterdam – were arrested. Police warned that such fireworks pose serious fire, explosion and injury risks, comparable in power to a hand‑grenade, and emphasize year‑round enforcement to curb illegal storage, transport and use.