The police found about 14 percent more drug waste last year than the year before. At the same time, it has dismantled fewer cannabis farms (about 21 percent less) and drug labs (35 percent). This is evident from Monday published police figures† The drug labs often produced cocaine, heroin, or synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and MDMA.
The number of dumping is said to have increased because criminals more often discharged small amounts of waste. The police say they suspect that the total amount of dumped waste was lower last year than in 2020. This does not mean that fewer drugs were produced; According to police director and drug portfolio holder Willem Woelders, criminals can “get rid of their waste in all sorts of ways”. “They can dump it, but they can also burn it or neutralize it and then discharge it into the sewer.” The police are investigating these forms of waste disposal.
Most dumping of drug waste took place in Limburg (61 times), followed by North Brabant (47) and South Holland (29). With 17 drug labs discovered, Noord-Brabant was the frontrunner in this area, followed by Noord-Holland and Limburg, where 13 and 11 labs were rolled up respectively.
crypto telephones
According to the police, fewer drug labs were dismantled in 2021 than in 2020 because “the backbone of criminal networks seems [te zijn] affected” by police operations that dismantled criminal networks. In particular, the cracking of crypto telephone services such as EncroChat and Anom led to this, according to Woelders.
“Normally, a large criminal network is flexible. If you keep a few people on, the network will absorb the blow,” says Woelders. “Now we could also keep the clients and other members of the network behind the production locations. As a result, it will be difficult for these organizations to absorb the vacancies.” However, the director says he assumes that this is a “temporary effect” and that criminal organizations will quickly pick up again.
The police find another reason in the fact that fewer cannabis farms were dismantled last year than a year earlier: too little manpower in the police force. “We have to choose,” says Woelders. The police say they have started to focus more on “combating hard drugs and following up on reports”. “Hemp teams are therefore being discontinued at a number of basic teams.” According to the police chief, this is “worrying” because cannabis farms can lead to dangerous situations in residential areas.