The Netherlands Drug Situation 2010 - Trimbos-instituut

New developments in 2010 The splitting of the production processes of synthetic drugs in the Netherlands intodifferent parts. The fact that purity of ecstasy tablets on the Dutch consumer markets rose and thoseof amphetamine returned to previously reported levels (see § 10.3).10.2 SeizuresFigures about seizures in 2009 as reported by the National Police Forces are unreliablebecause of underreporting (not all regional police forces deliver data) and will thereforenot be presented here. A new protocol for the transaction and registration of seizures by the police was introducedin 2007 (Inspectie Openbare Orde en Veiligheid 2009). The aim was to improvethe activities and the transparancy of the process. An inventory of problems made clear that it is difficult to weigh seized drugs in a preciseand comparable way, for instance in cases where drugs are impregnated inclothes or adulterated in liquids, and especially when large amounts of drugs are involved(Inspectie Openbare Orde en Veiligheid 2009). The protocol provides rules, in order to improve harmonisation. The aim is that allpolice forces will implement the protocol. The protocol is in a process of improvementand implementation in 2010.Table 10.2.1 shows figures from the Centre of Expertise on Synthetic Drugs and Precursors(KLPD, 2009, 2010b). Figures from this Centre might be incomplete – there is noobligation for enforcement agencies to report figures to the Centre – but they give thebest possible picture. 24 dismantlements of production locations are reported in 2009. This is three morethan in 2008. The increase is mainly due to the number of amphetamine productionsites, which was 3 times as high as in 2008, and the production sites of other syntheticand designer drugs like mCCP, methamphetamine and 2C-B. Only one MDMAproduction site was dismantled. 37 warehouses of hardware, chemicals or both were discovered by the police, twomore than in 2008. There are less recorded waste dumpings in 2009. Most of these concerned wastes ofamphetamine production. Most of the dismantlements and waste dumpings were recorded in the South of theNetherlands (not in table). The Act for Prevention of Misuse of Chemicals (Wet voorkoming misbruik chemicaliën,WVMC) obliges companies to report suspicious transactions with regards to registeredchemicals to a special registration office of the Fiscal Intelligence and InvestigationAgency (FIOD) at the police Unit South Netherlands. In 2009, 59 suspicious transactionswere reported, the same number as in 2008. In the years before, there werefewer reports (not in table).147