National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

From the source country onwards, the trade in the precursor BMK is controlled
by Russian-speaking people. They sell the BMK somewhere in Russia, the Baltic
States or Poland to Estonians, Lithuanians or Poles. These buyers then smuggle
the BMK to the Dutch buyers. The Lithuanians involved in the smuggling of BMK
mainly live in the Randstad and, to a lesser extent, in the south of the
Netherlands. There are also Dutch buyers who have built up contacts in Poland
and the Baltic States, and who buy shipments there. There are probably still no
direct contacts with Russian dealers.
People involved in the trade in other chemicals, hardware
and production
The producer community of synthetic drugs in the Netherlands is small,
concentrated in the south of the Netherlands and probably consists of several
hundred people. Within this community there are several dozen criminal
entrepreneurs who produce synthetic drugs on a structural and large-scale basis.
Most of them have their roots in the caravan camp community. They are usually
born and bred in a caravan camp, which is where the basis of their social
network is located. These criminal entrepreneurs are often the financiers or
organisers and they are usually not involved themselves in the primary processes.
They are mainly involved in obtaining shipments of precursors and selling
the final product at the international level. For both processes the criminal
entrepreneurs maintain contacts with suppliers, buyers, transporters,
co-financiers and helpers.
The work is carried out by numerous helpers, who are contacted relatively easily
via relatives or acquaintances. These helpers are controlled by confidants of the
organisers. Almost everybody knows everybody else in the producer community.
Without a legal cover, large shipments of chemicals are generally difficult to
obtain in the Netherlands, which is why buyers go abroad, but suppliers abroad
are also becoming increasingly alert to suspicious circumstances. As a result,
buyers constantly have to look for other suppliers. Obtaining the legal raw
materials that are needed requires an increasing amount of expertise. Mainly
Dutch and Belgian natives are involved, although young Moroccans living in
the Netherlands also appear to be playing an increasingly important role.
The hardware (production equipment) trade is a closed circle of native
Dutchmen, in which everyone knows everyone else. The trade involves reaction
vessels and related equipment for producing ecstasy. This equipment is partly
purchased second-hand, through front companies, from legal companies that
are often located abroad. However, the equipment sometimes needs to be
modified, which requires experienced members of the organisation who are
well known within the producer community. There also is a trade in glassware
and related equipment for producing amphetamine. Some of the glassware
50 National Threat Assessment 2008 – Organised crime