After becoming suspicious about a neighbor’s house, several residents of a Dutch village alerted the authorities. I had no idea this would turn out to be a story about drugs, cops, and jail! More specifically, there was a period when it snowed heavily and the snow cover formed and increased, but not a single flake “stuck” on a specific area of the house’s roof, leading some to suspect foul play.

When responding officers discovered a thriving business—specifically, a cannabis culture—within, they confirmed the accuracy of their training. The heat used to cultivate the plants kept snow from sticking to the roof, quickly melting it. When melting snow reveals the secret of cannabis growers in the Netherlands, police make mass arrests.

Drug traffickers in the Netherlands are discovering that the lack of snow on their roofs presents an unexpected challenge The building’s owner faces many years in prison for growing marijuana in his own home. Although personal marijuana use is tolerated in the Netherlands, residents are limited to growing no more than five plants in their homes.