National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

Some sectors are essential for cocaine smuggling and cocaine trafficking, which
makes corrupt employees and blackmail more likely in these sectors. Apart from
the adverse effect on the integrity of these sectors, some of them also suffer
substantial financial losses, for example, the sectors that are used to transport
cocaine. This type of damage is mainly the result of delays caused by inspections
and seizures. The aviation sector in particular has to deal with stringent checks
that were introduced because of cocaine trafficking.
Society as a whole
Not only people and economic sectors but also society as a whole is harmed by
cocaine smuggling and trafficking. The state is harmed because of all the costs
incurred by anti-drugs programmes and drug prevention and relief programmes.
In addition, a lot of money is also spent on funding criminal investigations and
penal institutions.
Apart from the damage that occurs due to the costs incurred by the government
in the fight against drugs, society is also harmed by the procurement crimes
committed by drug addicts. Drug-related problems have led to degeneration
in certain areas and increased the local residents’ fear of crime. Anti-social
behaviour by drug addicts is most often experienced at locations such as
shopping centres, stations, industrial estates and red-light districts.
Cocaine trafficking sometimes causes corruption too: staff at ports and airports
are regularly linked to cocaine-smuggling operations.
The integrity of the Dutch state can be harmed by various aspects of drug
trafficking. After Spain and Portugal, the Netherlands is third in the list of
European cocaine transit countries. There is a great deal of pressure from abroad
on the Dutch police and the judicial authorities to fight drugs trafficking in and
via the Netherlands. This requires capacity, which comes at the expense of the
fight against other crimes.
2.2.6 Crime-related factors and expectations
The Dutch cocaine users market has been reasonably stable for a number of
years now. Usage is slowly increasing, however, and this trend is expected to
continue. In various European countries (Spain and France) using cocaine has
recently undergone a process of ‘democratisation’ in public opinion in the sense
that using cocaine is no longer seen as the preserve of a small elite; cocaine is
now accessible to all levels of the population. The growing number of users in
various European countries (especially in Spain) is related to increased prosperity,
as a result of which cocaine has become affordable for more people. A Belgian
study by criminologists from the University of Ghent in 2005 showed that using
cocaine was considered increasingly ‘normal’. The normalisation of cocaine
chapter 2 – Illegal markets
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