National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

2.3.3 Criminal organisations
Three nationalities dominate at wholesale level: (Dutch‐)Turkish, Dutch and
British. (Dutch‐)Turkish criminals make up the largest group. They play key
roles in both heroin imports/exports and heroin trafficking. These criminal
organisations can be described as networks with a loose structure, consisting
of several heroin suppliers and buyers, as well as an extended social network.
Dutch traffickers or suppliers often combine the heroin trade with trading in
XTC, cocaine and/or soft drugs.
British criminals in the Netherlands mainly play the roles of buyer and exporter
of heroin for the British drugs market, whereby they often trade in combination
with other drugs.
2.3.4 Consequences for Dutch society
Many types of harm are inflicted on Dutch society involving health, social and
economic performance, safety, public order, criminal investigations and criminal
prosecutions.
The harm is caused in part by the simple fact of people using heroin. Another
part of the harm comes from the illegal nature of the activity and the
involvement of criminal organisations.
In the Netherlands the amount of harm caused by heroin use itself is falling since
many years. One of the reasons is the Dutch policy to fight the drug problem,
namely limiting harm that arises from the use of heroin (harm reduction), e.g. by
setting up user facilities and by providing heroin on medical grounds. In addition,
the population of addicts is shrinking, even though this constantly ageing group
is suffering from serious health problems related to many years of heroin use.
The black market on which heroin is traded and the side effects associated with
the illegal trade and smuggling (e.g. violence, corruption and the investment of
criminal proceeds) are key types of harm inflicted on Dutch society. The turnover
levels and profits generated are massive. Legitimate society and criminal circles are
highly intertwined. It is striking how often the catering and transport sectors are
involved in heroin trafficking and smuggling. In most cases the businesses involved
have a facilitating function. Finally, a damaged reputation also harms Dutch
society, as the Netherlands has an important distributive function within Europe.
2.3.5 Crime-related factors and expectations
The Netherlands is mainly a distribution country for the heroin markets in the
UK, France, Spain and Portugal. This will not really change in the next few years.
The Netherlands will remain an attractive distribution country due to
40 National Threat Assessment 2008 – Organised crime