National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

purchased has to be modified, which is done by glassblowers who are willing
to do business without asking questions.
Within the producer community in the Netherlands, a relatively extended
infrastructure has been built up in recent years, within which precursors, other
chemicals, hardware, helpers and laboratory workers are available through
a network of connections. This type of infrastructure does not exist outside of
the Netherlands. Production in other countries is usually incidental and without
a wider network to rely on. That may change in Canada, but so far Canadian
ecstasy tablets have often contained no MDMA. The Netherlands still plays
a central role in the production of and trade in synthetic drugs not only within,
but also outside Europe.
People involved in selling
Foreign buyers come to the Netherlands to do business. Meetings are mainly
held in and around Amsterdam, whilst the drugs are usually transferred in the
south of the Netherlands (near the production locations). Many foreign buyers
are suspected of purchasing retail and distributive shipments, from several
hundreds to tens of thousands of tablets. In addition, there are foreign
wholesalers who buy shipments from hundreds of thousands to over one million
tablets. Shipments of several millions of tablets appear to be traded less often.
When they are traded, (several) native Dutch criminal entrepreneurs will always
be involved. Shipments of this size involve long preparations and probably also
long negotiations. Several financiers are probably involved as well, in order to
spread the financial risk.
Involvement in other criminal activities
In the police investigations that were studied, the production of synthetic drugs
and cannabis growing are often controlled or organised by the same criminal
entrepreneurs. Trade by barter occurs on a regular basis: criminal entrepreneurs
often deal in more than one type of drug. Also, many criminals have criminal
records under the Weapons and Ammunition Act, or for money laundering or
forgery of documents.
2.4.5 Consequences for Dutch society
The consequences of producing, trading in and smuggling synthetic drugs
for Dutch society can be divided into harm suffered by people, economic
sectors and society as a whole.
Personal harm can be suffered as a result of consuming synthetic drugs, but
also as a result of the production of synthetic drugs. In 2005, consumption of
synthetic drugs resulted in several deaths and dozens of hospital admissions.
chapter 2 – Illegal markets
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