National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

The ‘handling of stolen goods link’ concerns intertwining the illegitimate
with legitimate society. Garage and shipbroker businesses (for shipping abroad)
are knowingly (or unknowingly) guilty of aiding and abetting.
4.8.3 Scale
Every year, between 2000 and 5000 handling offences are recorded by the
police. The trend is upward, although the scale of property crime has been
decreasing for years. If we compare the number of cases of handling offences
with the number of thefts reported to the police, there is a sharp contrast.
Around 800,000 thefts are recorded every year. Whilst it is plausible that by no
means all of the stolen goods end up in Dutch handling circles, for example,
because the thieves keep the goods for themselves or because they are sent
abroad, it is still unlikely that only a tiny proportion of the stolen goods are sold
off via handlers. We must conclude that relatively few handling offences are
discovered by the police.
Vehicles, electronic consumer items, money and clothing are easily the four most
wanted items. As regards vehicles, we know that mainly new and expensive
models are stolen; electronics equipment is often obtained from cargo theft,
shoplifting or domestic burglaries and clothing is mostly obtained by shoplifting.
4.8.4 Criminal organisation
Relatively little is known about the handlers of stolen goods. Traditionally,
handlers of stolen goods can be found among the residents of caravan camps.
Handlers operate in a network of people and accomplices ensure that the sales
channels are open. Sometimes one channel is used, sometimes another. The
mechanisms that affect the choice of sales channel are not known; it probably
all comes down to ‘who knows who’. The extent to which there is an actual
criminal organisation in place is not known, but criminal organisations that are
specialised in the handling of stolen goods have been identified. The leaders
act as handlers. The case files paint a picture of risk-averse dealers. They take on
anything that can generate a profit, but they do not go out stealing themselves.
There have been cases where the handlers held sessions in cafés so that the
group’s thieves could come to offer them their goods. The goods on offer varied
and included cars, clothing, computers, electronic equipment, parcels, securities,
generators, digital cameras, water scooters, jewellery and car parts such as
on-board computers, airbags and radios. Some handlers act as coordinators
for ‘stealing to order’. The frequency with which thieves are sent out with
a ‘shopping list’ is not known.
chapter 4 – Supraregional property crime
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