Checkpoint was a

cannabis coffee shop In the Netherlands, ''coffeeshops'' are establishments where the sale of cannabis for personal consumption by the public is tolerated by the local authorities. Under the drug policy of the Netherlands, the sale of cannabis products in ...

Terneuzen Terneuzen () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland. History First mentione ...

, the largest such in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

until it was closed in 2008 by the authorities because of reputedly having a too large supply of cannabis.

Establishment

In 1996, the municipality of Terneuzen was the only town in

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

as tolerant in an end to the illegal sale. Two coffee shops got a license, "Miami" and the already operating illegally Checkpoint. Checkpoint made use of forced removals to significantly expand a mega coffeeshop where on average 2,900 customers per day (on peak days to 5000) take a number and then had to pull one of the five tills a bag hash or weed to be met. The coffee shop had its own parking, café and restaurant, almost one hundred employees and an annual turnover of 26 million euros. Half of the visitors came from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and 40 percent from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

Raid

On 1 June 2007 the police raided the coffeeshop, where 4.5 kilograms of

soft drugs Recreational drug use indicates the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime by modifying the perceptions and emotions of the user. When a ...

were found. In a neighboring warehouse police found another 92 pounds. This is much more than in the AHOJ-G criteria maximum of 500 grams of stock. On 20 May 2008, the police again raided the shop and thirteen addresses. This time 160 pounds soft drugs were seized and the coffee shop was closed.

Trial

On 3 November 2009 the trial of fifteen employees of the coffee shop, where prison sentences to eighteen years and a confiscation order of 27 million was demanded. It was the first time that a coffee shop was prosecuted as a criminal organization. On 25 March 2010, the court ruling. The defendants were found guilty but received light sentences. Prime suspect and owner Maddie W. received a prison sentence of 16 weeks and other employees received prison sentences for which the judgment is not transcended. The confiscation order amounted to 10 million euros. The court did weigh the municipality of Terneuzen, the Public Prosecutor and the treasury not despite these interventions were aware of the scope of the case, which the owner always has been open. The court accused the municipality of the ban on advertising for coffee shops to have violated verwijsbordjes by placing the coffee shops. Following the ruling mayor asked Jan Lonink national politics to establish clearer rules.

Sources

Drug nuisance too big to pass through to overlook, Times, May 29, 2008

The coffeeshop of Frankenstein, The Standard, 31 October 2009

Storage Checkpoint already known in 2002, PZC, November 4, 2009

Case Checkpoint arrested for photos, BN De Stem, 5 November 2009

Pronunciation case Checkpoint, PZC TV, March 25, 2010

Mayor: lessons from case Checkpoint, Wedding, March 25, 2010 {{coord missing, Netherlands Cannabis coffeeshops Buildings and structures in Zeeland 2008 disestablishments in the Netherlands Terneuzen category:1996 in cannabis