Criminals recruit prostitutes, drug dealers from Den Bosch schools: mayor

Criminals involved at least three school pupils in Den Bosh in prostitution and drug trading, mayor Ton Rombouts said in response to questions from PvdA city councilor Lisette van der Swaluw. The mayor believes that more kids may have been approached to become involve in illegal activities, but they wont come forward out of shame or fear for those who approached them, the Gelderlander reports.

Two girls in Den Bosch were taken out of the hands of loverboys, the mayor said in a detailed description of the incidents, according to the newspaper. A few weeks earlier, the management of their school noticed that the two teens were frequently with young men in expensive cars. The girls claimed that the young men are their friends. But teachers were concerned that they may be loverboys and notified the girls' parents.

The school also gave the license plate numbers of the cars through to the police. A few weeks later, officers noticed one of the cars driving in Utrecht's prostitution district. The car was pulled over, and the two girls were found inside. Two young men were arrested, but as the girls and their parents refused to file a report, they were later released. There is not enough evidence against them to prosecute, the mayor said. But the young men are registered in the police systems. 

Two other cases involve a Den Bosch school becoming concerned about drug use among students. The school got into contact with the municipality and youth workers. Extra surveillance was set in place, and a neighborhood police officer was deployed to keep an eye on locations where many school pupils gather. In this way the school and authorities managed to map which students were involved, according to the newspaper.

A video was found circulating on social media, showing a boy snorting white powder. The boy and his father were called in to the school, where the boy gave names of other students using soft drugs. Conversations with other involved students gave the authorities an idea of how large the group of drug using students are. It also revealed the dealer who provided the kids with drugs. He was arrested and has already been convicted. 

The student in the video was offered help. He is doing very well, the mayor said. The school is also giving extra lessons about the dangers of drugs. The extra surveillance is still in place, but no drugs have been found in a while.