National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

Of all the regional airports, Rotterdam Airport has the highest number of
recorded weapons and explosives. Inspections for weapons and explosives
are not performed at small airports. Nevertheless, a number of incidents did
come to light.
Small and regional airports
Hardly any inspections are performed at small airports to check for weapons
and explosives. The authorities that are authorised to perform inspections do
not do so systematically. The police registration systems show that crime does
occur at small airports, but the scale of it remains unknown. It is often
discovered by chance. This applies especially to serious and organised crime,
where criminal investigations require specific expertise, and this expertise
is currently not available.
Small airports may pose an additional risk due to their location close to the
North Sea (for example, Texel and Ameland), as a result of which goods could be
delivered and shipped quickly without being noticed. Small airports facilitate
landings from outside of the Schengen area without knowing it, even though
they are not designated points of entry. The aircraft in question indicate that
they have already landed elsewhere in the Schengen area, thereby suggesting
that they have already been cleared. This is not always the case. In Germany, for
example, small aircraft are sometimes allowed to land to refuel without being
cleared, after which they continue on to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands it is
then unclear from where the aircraft originally came. As soon as an aircraft has
landed in Europe or if it comes from a European country it has freedom of access
within the European Union. According to many, the removal of the inspections
between Schengen countries has created extra risks.
Experts agree that small airports provide enough opportunities for cross-border
crime. The fact that this crime is not discovered often enough is related to a lack
of inspections and expertise.
Regional airports do not have enough properly equipped staff either and
resources such as sniffer dogs or scanning equipment are often not available to
check for smuggling. At a few regional airports the number of incidents is rising,
possibly due to the increased number of flights via those airports. This may also
be the result of a displacement effect from Schiphol to the smaller airports.
Business flights are also considered to be high-risk. These flights are often
uncontrolled; inspections upon arrival and before departure are insufficient or
are not performed at all.
Just like small airports, regional airports seem to be locked in a vicious circle.
Without targeted inspections and specific expertise offences are not detected.
Without registration of offences not much appears to be happening and
chapter 6 – alerts
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