Police disperse illegal car tuning gatherings in Limburg

The police in the Lanaken-Maasmechelen (LaMa) zone successfully stopped an illegal gathering of tuned cars at the Europark industrial estate in Smeermaas, Lanaken, on Saturday evening around 19:30. The event, which involved approximately 300 vehicles with mostly German and Dutch licence plates, was dispersed without major incident.

Police confirmed that calm was restored by 23:30 on Saturday evening after guiding the vehicles towards the E314 motorway to prevent further disruptions. Supported by teams from neighbouring police zones, including Maasland and Bilzen-Hoeselt-Riemst, as well as the federal police, they closely monitored the situation. Additional patrols were deployed on the Rijksweg (N78) towards Maasmechelen and near the E314 slip roads to prevent participants from regrouping within the Lanaken-Maasmechelen or Maasland zones.

Lanaken Mayor Marino Keulen (Open VLD) stated that a convoy of cars eventually headed toward Aachen, Germany. He added that all Limburg police zones would maintain heightened vigilance throughout the night.

Reckless driving in Germany

Meanwhile, similar gatherings in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia escalated into chaotic scenes. In Aachen, around 2,000 participants arrived with hundreds of tuned cars. Police reported incidents of dangerous driving, reckless and aggressive behaviour and fireworks being thrown, leading to blocked streets and hazardous situations. The authorities intervened to end the gathering.

In Münster, another meeting of approximately 800 vehicles occurred, though it was described as largely peaceful and went unreported to authorities beforehand.

Authorities are becoming more alert to the growing trend of "tuning meetings", where modified vehicles often attract large crowds.

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