The number of cannabis farms dismantled by the police has halved in a few years. Last year, 2285 were discovered, compared to 4600 in 2017. Also, for the first time in years, fewer drug labs were broken up.
In 2020, 2,894 cannabis farms were dismantled. According to Willem Woelders, portfolio holder for drugs at the police, the decrease in numbers is mainly due to a lack of capacity. The main focus is on combating hard drugs and following up on reports. “That’s why hemp teams are being abolished at a number of basic teams. Worrying, because hemp farms can lead to dangerous situations in residential areas and billions are also made in hemp. We are dealing with one big drug market here. Everything is intertwined,” Woelders said in a statement about the figures.
The figures show that the fight against hard drugs has dealt a number of serious blows to drug criminals. Although fewer drug labs have been busted, according to the police, this is mainly because criminal drug networks have fallen apart due to the cracking of crypto telephone services such as EncroChat and Sky. In this way it was possible to read along with what the criminals were doing. “Normally, a large criminal network is flexible. If you stop a few people, the network will absorb that blow. Now we could also keep track of the clients and other members of the network behind the production locations. As a result, it will be difficult for these organizations to accommodate the vacant spaces,” explains Woelders.
cat and mouse game
But Woelders warns that this will have ‘only a temporary effect’. “Criminals don’t sit still. Others take over the role and respond to supply and demand. In addition, they communicate with new crypto telephone services and encrypted apps such as Telegram and Signal. We continue to play a cat-and-mouse game with them.”
Last year, police found 93 locations where synthetic drugs were produced or where heroin or cocaine was processed. Synthetic drugs such as (meth)amphetamine and MDMA were produced in three quarters of the locations (69 locations). As a result, the number of labs discovered for synthetic drugs fell by 35 percent. The number of so-called cocaine laundries, crystallization locations and packaging areas was even 63 percent lower.
The labs were mainly found in North Brabant, North Holland, Limburg and Gelderland. North and South Holland accounted for the lion’s share of the 21 cocaine processing locations. Agents discovered three locations where heroin was processed: in Alkmaar, The Hague and Rotterdam. 117 places were also found where drugs or raw materials were stored, from large warehouses for thousands of liters of chemicals to garages with several tens of liters. With 40 storage locations for synthetic drugs, Noord-Brabant stands out above all other provinces. South Holland is the leader with 11 locations for cocaine and 3 for heroin.
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