Sixty arrested in Dutch police action against roaming criminal gangs

The Dutch police arrested 60 people last week in a national action against roaming criminal gangs. Detainees include suspected shoplifters, drug traffickers and dealers, burglars and identity thieves, the police announced in a statement.

Between Tuesday and Friday the police worked with the Tax Authorities, the Koninklijke Marechaussee and the immigration and naturalization service to check and search thousands of people on the roads, on the water and in trains. As these so-called mobile bandits tend to work internationally, the police also cooperated closely with the authorities in Germany, Belgium and Romania. A special app was used to check people's identities against national police systems as well as Europol.

Nearly 100 cases were linked to ongoing police investigations into human trafficking, arms trade, drug trafficking and burglaries.

Three men and a woman from Romania were arrested after the police found stolen brand clothing, cosmetics and perfumes in their car. Another Romanian was arrested with 40 packages of stolen baby formula. He was caught twice in four days. In one car three men were arrested with a large party of pistachios. According to the police, these nuts are currently very popular among thieves, probably because they are very expensive at the moment. Suspects were caught with fake brand clothing, shoes handbags, illegal medicines, illegal tobacco, drugs and one firearm.

A number of people were caught with counterfeit papers, including fake driver's licenses, fake identity documents and fake registration plates. A Belgian was arrested and extradited to Belgium, where he still needs to serve a 600 day prison sentence. A Hungarian was arrested with an outstanding prison sentence of 112 days to be served in the Netherlands. The Tax Authorities collected thousands of euros in outstanding fines and seized dozens of cars.

New information and leads were also gathered in this national action, and the police expect that more arrests will follow.