Toine Spapens

Macro networks, collectives, and business processes : An integrated approach to organized crime

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Interaction between criminal groups and law enforcement : The case of ecstasy in the Netherlands

The police and the policymakers in the field of organised crime generally assume that criminal groups are very flexible in their responses to law enforcement intervention. They use this flexibility to explain why some forms of organised crime are very difficult to curb. Criminal groups may also develop more effective protection methods over time. Another explanation may be that others are quick to replace apprehended members of criminal groups, or even an entire criminal group that has been dismantled by law enforcement officials. This article addresses these questions empirically by examining the behaviour of criminal groups producing and trafficking ecstasy in the Netherlands between 1997 and 2006. It concludes that such groups were able to adapt to the methods and tactics used by the Dutch police to some extent. The main explanation for the continued production of ecstasy, however, is that criminal groups are replaced by new ones.

Trafficking in Illicit Firearms for Criminal Purposes within the European Union

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The fight against human trafficking in the Amsterdam Red Light District

The Amsterdam Red Light District is famous for its sex-oriented businesses. Although prostitution was legalized in 2000, this did not end some of its criminal side effects, particularly the trafficking in women. In an effort to combat human trafficking in the district, the local authorities launched the Emergo project in 2007. The core of the project is a multi-agency approach in which the municipality, the police, the public prosecution service and the Tax and Customs Administration cooperate closely. In addition to improving the effectiveness of repressive action against criminal infrastructures, additional legislation such as the criminalization of clients is also considered necessary to compensate for the shortcomings of regulatory measures.

Joint Investigation Teams in the European Union: Article 13 JITS and the Alternatives

Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) can represent an important benefit in cross-border criminal investigations. This chapter addresses the different types of coordinated and joint investigation, and considers the circumstances under which each of these is a particularly useful instrument. It begins by outlining two main types of serious and organized cross-border crime, and discusses relevant developments of the past two decades. The chapter offers an overview of the legal framework for law enforcement cooperationin the European Union (EU), and the development of the JIT as an instrument. It provides three examples of practical experiences with JITs based on Article 13 of the EU Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) Convention. The chapter discusses examples of alternatives to establishing Article 13 JITs: parallel investigations, and joint investigations based on framework agreements. Keywords:cross-border crime; European Union (EU); framework agreements; Joint Investigation Teams (JITs); legal framework

Match-fixing: The Current Discussion in Europe and the Case of The Netherlands

Match-fixing is a topic that captures the imagination of the public and increasingly attracts academic interest as well. Manipulation of sports games can be sports related, to achieve a better result for the team or a player, or gambling related to gain financially from the outcome. This paper describes the results of an empirical study of match-fixing in The Netherlands and analyses the main risk factors involved. These are social relations of persons involved in sports with criminals; the availability of the game for betting; financial difficulties of clubs, players and others who can influence the out¬come of a match, and gambling addiction. Currently, match-fixing is high on the agenda of sports associations, gambling operators and government institutions on both the national and international levels. The ‘Convention on the manipulation of sports competitions’ drawn up by the Council of Europe encompasses a broad range of measures and can be viewed as the leading international initiative to curb match-fixing. Finally, we argue that the importance of sports in society requires more thor¬ough and comparative empirical research of the scope and nature of the problem, on non-gambling related match-fixing, and on the relationship between sports-betting and manipulation.

North Brabant: A Brief History of a Hotbed of Organised Crime

In the past few decades, criminologists have established that street crimes are often concentrated in specific “hot spots”. The notion that the same appears to apply to organised crime draws much less attention. In the Netherlands, the province of North Brabant is viewed as a hotbed of large-scale drug production, drug trafficking and organised theft in particular. Going back in history, the province was notorious for large-scale smuggling from 1830 to 1962 and for being the home of rural gangs in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This chapter presents a brief history of these types of illegal activity in North Brabant. It concludes that circumstances that varied in time presented criminals with new opportunities, and in grasping these they were able to build upon their existing networks of domestic and international criminal relations.

Legal and Extralegal Enforcement of Pollution by Seagoing Vessels

Seagoing vessels frequently blend heavy fuel oil (HFO) with toxic waste and subsequently dump the oil in the sea. This contributes considerably to marine and air pollution. This chapter discusses the scope and nature of both activities. The high costs of legal waste management and the relative ease and impunity with which waste materials can be mixed with HFO or dumped represent a significant criminal opportunity structure. Law enforcement against hazardous waste processing at sea has tremendous limitations, which are related to detection problems and the strategic behaviour of the corporate owners of the vessels. Moreover, sanctions are often limited to financial penalties, which lack impact because the firms involved in the oil and shipping industry are among the world’s largest and financially powerful firms. Although naming and shaming is often presented as an alternative when enforcement is lacking impact, we argue that in the oil and shipping industry it might lack effectiveness because of limited media coverage of oil-related environmental incidents, the lack of ‘end consumer’ contact, and the fact that the companies involved may be able to effectively neutralise negative publicity.

Transnational organized crime

Even in history, criminals crossed borders to commit crimes, traffic in illicit goods, and provide illegal services. More recently, however, opportunities for transnational (organized) crime have increased, in particular because of the growing level of mobility, the opening of borders and the advent of the Internet. So far, however, there is little proof of the emergence of ‘crime multinationals.’ Although a complex and growing legal and organizational framework is in place, law enforcement cooperation is still largely traditional and it remains advantageous for criminals to operate across different jurisdictions.

Decriminalization as Regulation: The Gambling and Cannabis Markets in the Netherlands

Decriminalizing an illegal market may be a useful strategy for reducing crime. It is also necessary, however, to have a clear understanding of the nature of the illegal market before undertaking such an endeavor. Experiences in the Netherlands show that decriminalizing illegal markets may indeed result in a substantial reduction of organized crime and other criminal activities, if the regulatory system is designed adequately. These experiences also show that such systems inherently lack flexibility and that criminals are usually quick to re-enter the market when unforeseen developments, particularly technical innovations and internationalization, create new illegal business opportunities.