Netherlands National Drug Monitor - Research and Documentation ...

• Records from the Public Prosecutor’s office likewise show a drop in the numbers of
Opium Act cases in 2007 and 2008 compared to 2006. And the number of cases in
2008 was lower than in 2007. This trend applies to both hard and soft drug cases.
Remarkably, the percentage of soft drug cases in 2008 is virtually the same as hard
drug cases.
• Two-thirds of drug offences appear before court. In this respect, there is a clear
difference between hard drug and soft drug cases. Summonses are more likely to be
issued in cases involving hard drugs and especially in cases involving both hard and
soft drugs than in cases involving soft drugs alone. Soft drug cases are more likely to
culminate in a financial order via the Public Prosecutor.
• The courts disposed of fewer Opium Act cases in 2007 and 2008. More cases involving
hard drugs than soft drugs appeared before the courts. Hard drug crimes culminate
relatively often in a custodial sentence.
• In 2007, the courts handed down more community services orders than custodial
sentences for drugs offences. A declining trend in custodial sentences started in 2003
and does not apply only to drug law violations. For both types of sentence, there is
evidence of a drop compared to 2006.
• The percentage of drug law crimes in the total of all offences appearing before the
public prosecutor and the courts and in all custodial sentences has remained fairly
stable. This means that offences against the Opium Act are following a similar path
to other forms of crime.
9.2 Drug law violations and organised drug crime
Criminal investigations into organised crime involving drugs
For the purpose of Europol’s Organised Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA), the Research
and Analysis Group of the National Criminal Intelligence Service of the National Police
Agency (KLPD), annually records the criminal investigations conducted by the Dutch
police into organised crime. All 25 Dutch police regions, as well as the National Police
Research and Analysis Group and special criminal investigation departments report on
both their ongoing and completed investigations that meet the EU criteria for organised
crime (table 9.1) 9 .
Because of changes in registration methods, the data cannot be directly compared
throughout the years. Data within the year groups 2000-2002, 2003-2004 and 2006-
2008 are comparable; and data for 2005 does not cover the entire calendar year. In
2006, a broader data collection took place, which made the total number for 2006
significantly higher than for previous years. This is particularly marked in the higher
number of investigations into trafficking in soft drugs.
9 There may also be occasional reports on active groups that are not yet officially under investigation.
9 Drug-related crime
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