One Roof Stayed Bare After It Snowed. Dutch Police Found More Than 500 Cannabis Plants Inside.

A winter patrol in Zeist led officers to take a closer look at a house that stood out from its neighbors

Snow still covered the rooftops when police drove through the Couwenhoven neighborhood of Zeist in January 2024. Then they passed a house with a completely bare roof. With snow still sitting on the surrounding homes, the contrast was enough for the officers to take a second look.

The Dutch police said officers noticed the roof on January 16, after snow had fallen the previous day. They began looking into the property and used a helicopter to take thermal images of the building. A week after the patrol, investigators had gathered enough information to enter the house.

What officers found inside the house

Police said several rooms contained cannabis-growing equipment and an estimated 500-plus plants. Officers also reported finding equipment used to make cannabis oil and a large amount of cash. They arrested a 48-year-old resident.

Investigators found that electricity was being drawn illegally at the property. Police warned that an unauthorized connection can overload electrical equipment, raising the risk of a short circuit or fire. The find gave investigators another reason to pay attention to how the rooms had been set up and powered.

Why the missing snow caught their attention

Indoor growing equipment, especially powerful lights, can give off enough heat to warm the space around it. If enough of that heat reaches the roof, snow can melt faster there than on neighboring buildings. In Zeist, that difference was visible from the street before officers had any idea how many plants were inside.

A bare roof can also have ordinary explanations, including differences in insulation or sun exposure. Dutch police made that point again after snow-free roofs prompted a series of tips in January 2026. In Almelo, several anonymous reports led to an investigation that uncovered about 300 cannabis plants. Police in The Hague received similar reports during the same period and found no growing operations as a result.

Why Dutch coffee shops operate under different rules

The Netherlands is widely associated with cannabis coffee shops, where small retail sales are tolerated under specific conditions. Cultivation is treated separately. Under the Dutch government’s general policy, growing cannabis at home remains prohibited. When an adult grows no more than five plants for personal use, police generally seize the plants without prosecution. The government also runs a separate experiment with a regulated supply chain for participating coffee shops.

In Zeist, the weather gave police a clue they could follow up on. The snow had already melted by the time they saw the roof. What established the scale of the operation was what they found when they finally went inside.