A son who distributes cocaine on his scooter or an uncle who grows ‘plants’ in the attic. More than 5,500 drug suspects live in Brabant with a family member who is also suspected of a drug offence. This means that ‘drug families’ are more common in our province than average.
According to crime researcher Hans Moors, criminal families must be fought differently. “We will not get there with criminal law alone.” This is reported by RTL News.
The Underworld Map, an investigation by RTL Nieuws into criminal undermining, shows that drug crime has become more and more a family affair. Across the Netherlands, more than 1 in 3 drug suspects (36 percent) between 2012 and 2020 also had a family member who was suspected of a drug offence. This is evident from figures from View of Undermining.
Small municipalities
The highest percentages of drug suspected family members do not occur in the Randstad, but in smaller towns such as Nuenen and Alphen-Chaam (both 62 percent). Moors: “In villages, families tend to live together more. They form a larger share of the population, so you see more family connections.”
Brabant caravan camps
Most criminal family ties occur in the south of the country. For example, of the twenty municipalities with the highest percentages, nine come from Brabant. In total, more than 5,500 drug suspects live in our province with a criminal family member. “They are mainly municipalities that traditionally have caravan camps with a criminal reputation, such as Nuenen, Waalre, Alphen-Chaam, Best and Oosterhout. Without wanting to stigmatize the non-criminal residents, it appears that more family crime takes place at caravan camps.”
Report crime
Together with criminologist Toine Spapens, Moors researched seven Brabant families with a prominent position in the underworld. Crime appears to be passed on within those families for generations. “If both parents are involved in crime, it’s almost impossible for the kids to escape.” Even partners seem to sort each other out based on their criminal records. “They are receptive to money and the thrill.”
Harassment
Criminal families can leave a strong mark on their environment. “They already have influence just by being there. People don’t dare to talk about it. But families also play a more active role, for example by intimidating neighbors. They are families that maintain a strong bond with the place where they live, despite the fact that they send drugs all over the world.”
Families such as those of Van Wesenbeeck from Eindhoven or Martien Reuvers from Oss, who was convicted in 2021, must be fought differently, says Moors. “You can take out the criminal hub, but the network continues to run.” That is why he advocates that a criminal law approach be combined with prevention. “If you get the father a big prison sentence, sit down with the family left behind to get them out of crime.”