Dutch organized crime among Europe’s worst in drug trade, tax fraud & people smuggling

Dutch criminals are extensively involved in drug trafficking throughout Europe, Europol said in a report mapping out the most dangerous criminal networks on the continent. According to the European police organization, Dutch criminals are involved in criminal networks trafficking every drug it looked at. Dutch organized crime also has its fingers deeply in tax fraud and people smuggling.

Europol identified 821 criminal networks involving at least 25,000 criminals. These networks are capable of causing “significant damage to public safety, the rule of law, and the economy,” Europol said.

At least half of the identified networks are involved in drug trafficking. Europol listed 113 criminal gangs focused mainly on the trafficking of cocaine, 44 on cannabis, nine on synthetic drugs, and 111 on poly-drugs (trafficking different types of drugs). Dutch is one of the main nationalities of the criminals involved in the trafficking of all these drugs, and the Netherlands is listed as one of the “main countries of activity” for each of them.

According to Europol, the Netherlands’ central role in drug trafficking has to do with its ports, which often have direct connections to drug-producing countries.

Dutch criminals are also well represented in the 34 criminal networks involved in tax fraud and 11 networks committing property crimes. And the Netherlands is one of the main countries of activity for online fraud schemes, like investment and romance fraud.

The Netherlands is also a main country of activity when it comes to people smuggling and human trafficking for labor exploitation. Though Dutch criminals aren’t overwhelmingly involved in the main criminal networks active in this area.

According to Europol, most criminal networks are highly diverse in terms of nationality. 68 percent consist of people from between 2 and 10 different nationalities, most with both EU and non-EU nationals.

The organization specifically mentioned a “distinct group” of “Belgo-Dutch criminal networks.” According to Europol, Dutch and Belgian criminals like working together due to their common language, close proximity, and good road infrastructure between relevant locations, like the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp for drug trafficking.

At a press conference presenting the report, Europol leader Catherine de Bolle described it as a key tool for tackling organized crime. She also addressed the criminal networks directly. “We know who you are, what you do, who you work with,” she said. "You can't hide anymore."