National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

Consol the airline company sells a particular volume to a transporter.
The transporter can then fill this volume with goods that the airline company
is unaware of under the so-called ‘groupage’ system. Only a brief description
of the sealed goods is provided.
2.4.3 Scale
The scale of the synthetic drugs market is discussed here on the basis of use,
seizures, dismantled drugs laboratories and dumping sites for waste materials.
Use of ecstasy and amphetamine
Ecstasy’s image has changed in the Netherlands. The ecstasy culture of the
1990s has disappeared. Some people believe that ecstasy belongs to a different
era and is no longer exciting. Nevertheless, ecstasy is still widely used; it is a
cheap stimulant. The percentage of recent users remained more or less the
same between 2001 and 2005: just over 1% of the Dutch population had
used ecstasy in the past 12 months. The percentage of current users, which
are people who used ecstasy in the past month, remained more or less the same
in that period as well at 0.4%. In 2005, 4.3% of the Dutch population aged
between 15 and 65 had used ecstasy at some point in the past. At 2.1%,
experience with amphetamine is less widespread. The number of recent
amphetamine users in the Netherlands has dropped slightly in recent years.
Ecstasy and amphetamine are mainly consumed on nights out.
The level of use also appears to be stabilising abroad. As far as ecstasy is
concerned, the markets were more stable in 2007; some even shrunk slightly. The
recent growth regions, such as (South-)East Asia, also showed growth levelling
out. In Western and Central Europe and in North America current use of ecstasy
is just under 1%, whilst it is 3% in Oceania. Although current use of ecstasy is
very low in (South-)East Asia (0.1%), that is still the fastest growing market. In
(South-)East European countries and Italy the use of ecstasy is rising, as it is in
some South American countries. Amphetamine is almost only used in Europe,
most of it traditionally in the UK and Scandinavia. In Germany, Italy and a number
of Central European countries the number of users is apparently growing, whilst
in other European countries use remains at the same level or is falling.
Seizures of precursors, ecstasy and amphetamine
Until 2004 thousands of litres of precursors were seized every year. This has
not been the case in recent years. Nevertheless, we know that production in the
Netherlands has continued. Precursors are apparently obtained via new routes,
using methods that investigating agencies are still unaware of. Raw materials
chapter 2 – Illegal markets
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