The ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp are among the main European ports of entry for the import and further distribution of cocaine. Earlier research underlines the interchangeability of these ports regarding the criminal networks trafficking cocaine into Europe. In this contribution, the interchange­ability of these European sea ports regarding cocaine trafficking is questioned. Based on empirical research, and applying the routine activity approach, the Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Antwerp are compared with respect to their physical characteristics, the potential, motivated offenders, as well as the existing public and private security measures.

In 2018 we published a report on the production of synthetic drugs in the Netherlands. We calculated the turnover of synthetic drugs produced in the Netherlands in 2017; we estimated it to be at least 18.9 billion euro (worldwide, street prices). In this article, we will discuss how these calculations were executed and on which assumptions they were based. We describe the responses to these calculations, nationally and internationally. Finally, we describe problems we encountered when performing a repetition of the calculations for the year 2018. Our central message is: drug turnover calculations can be an important addition to scientific and political discussions about illicit drugs, provided they are presented in a transparent way and acknowledging the inherent limitations of these calculations.

In recent years, the authorities have dismantled several encrypted phone providers. These providers stored millions of messages about covert activities that were overtly exchanged between criminals. This type of communication offers a unique insight into serious organized crime and the people involved. Based on one such intercepted encrypted phone network, called PGP-Safe, we carried out a social network analysis on the Dutch-speaking synthetic drug market. Three findings stand out. Firstly, three-quarters of all accounts (N=4,158) are interconnected in a giant component, resulting in a criminal small-world effect. Secondly, the network appears to be robust. As a consequence, the removal of central accounts will hardly have any impact on the network as a whole. Thirdly, the majority of the accounts within the synthetic drug market is involved in poly-drug trafficking. The Dutch synthetic drug market is much more closely intertwined with other drug markets than is commonly known.

As drug producing countries and logistical hubs, the Netherlands and Belgium are topping the worldwide charts in the field of international drug trafficking. For this reason, the Netherlands – and to a lesser extent Belgium – is depicted as a ‘narco state’ in the media and the political arena. Another term that is frequently used when it comes to crime problems related to drugs is ‘subversive crime’. In this introduction of the special issue on drug crime, the authors elaborate on two themes that are central to the terms ‘narco state’ and ‘subversive crime’: the size and estimates of the drug economy and the embeddedness of the drug industry in the legal world in the Netherlands and Belgium.

This paper concerns the question whether in the period 2011-2017 displacement effects occurred from the Netherlands to Belgium in the context of synthetic drugs production, cannabis cultivation, and retail of illicit drugs, and if so, how these may be explained. We conclude that displacement took place in modi operandi of retail drug dealers. This is explained foremost by the policy of banning non-residents from Dutch coffeeshops in border region municipalities. Dealers and traffickers responded by switching to local distribution in Belgium as well as deliveries by drug couriers. The synthetic drugs and cannabis cultivation markets show minor changes in modi operandi, but no changes occurred in choosing production locations. Displacement effects in the context of organized drug crime must be explained from a range of factors. Reality is therefore more complex than assuming that government interventions are the main cause of a balloon effect.

This article describes traits of the hitherto underexposed transit trade of cocaine via the Netherlands, based on a qualitative social network analysis of a diversity of data. Research findings show that the transit trade via the Netherlands is dominated by poly-drug trafficking. It is noteworthy that streams of predominantly mono-drugs are entering the Netherlands, while mainly streams of poly-drugs are leaving the country. Our research furthermore shows that cocaine intended for European markets may be transited via the Netherlands to European countries to which the cocaine was initially imported. This is what we refer to as ping-pong trade. Another characteristic of the transit trade of cocaine via the Netherlands is that the actors involved, mainly coordinate parts of the cocaine supply chain. Although different groups within the cocaine distribution chain collaborate, this does not necessarily mean they actually know each other. Taken together, the organization of the distributive trade of cocaine is in this article positioned as an interdependent transnational network of networks (NoN). We suggest that future research into the transit trade of cocaine should apply such a transnational NoN perspective to fully grasp the interdependence of the micro and meso levels of the trade and, in so doing, ultimately comprehend the effect this may have on the macro level.

Past and present human activity lies at the basis of the unprecedented environmental crisis we face today. This article explores the drivers and dynamics that are directly and indirectly responsible for the environmental crisis in the Anthropocene by using a green and organizational criminology perspective and combining it with insights from perpetrator studies. Responsible actors and responsibilities are discussed on societal, organizational and individual level. Lessons are drawn on how existing insights in criminology can be challenged to better accommodate for the ecological challenges in the antropocene and on what that means for criminologists experiencing and researching the Anthropocene.

‘Antropocene’ is a wellknown concept among those that are concerned about the Earth’s future. Nevertheless, there is a heated scientific debat about the start of this era in history and the name ‘antropocene’in itself. In this contribution it is stated that that debate is helpful in raising important questions about the desatrous influence of mankind on live on this planet. Criminologists should take a stance and address these questions as well. This contribution includes a manifest that contains points for further action for criminologists.

This article contains the results of a crime script analysis regarding the processes of human trafficking and human smuggling in Curaçao. The crime script analysis was conducted using data from five criminal investigations of human trafficking and seven criminal investigations of human smuggling. The results show that human trafficking in Curaçao consists of labor exploitation and sexual exploitation in bars, cafes and clubs. Young women are recruited from Colombia, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic to work as waitresses, trago girls and/or prostitutes. Once they arrive on the island, the women are dependent on the perpetrators and are subjected to exploitation In this research, two types of human smuggling have been witnessed. The first type consists of Venezuelan smugglers who transport fellow Venezuelan nationals to Curaçao by boat in exchange for payment. The second type of smugglers are Curaçao locals who rent out rooms to Venezuelans that reside on the island illegally.

Traditionally, the mayor has an important role as a citizen’s father and as a maintainer of public order. In the context of the so-called ‘undermining’ criminality, the mayor has been increasingly empowered with new legal instruments to combat undermining criminality. Some mayors see themselves as a sheriff. However, in the Dutch Municipal Act, the mayor only has a task of maintaining the public order. How does this task relate to combating undermining criminality? What is the role of the mayor in the combat of undermining criminality? Nowadays, there is no legal basis in the Dutch Municipal Act to equip the mayor with crime-fighting duties. This article proposes to equip the mayor with a legal duty as a crime fighter.

Criminology has traditionally focused on urban areas where crime visibly concentrates. However, since the 1990s, attention for ‘rural criminology’ has steadily increased. First, rural areas are confronted with partly different and less visible crime problems, such as environmental crimes. Second, public actors such as enforcement and other agencies are less present and ‘available’ in rural areas, and people on average trust the government less to provide support when necessary. This chronicle presents an overview of international and Dutch research in the context of rural criminology. The paper addresses cultural differences between urban and rural areas, high-volume crimes, gender-related violence, alcohol and drug abuse, environmental crime, and enforcement in rural areas.

The social role of criminals in local communities has so far received relatively little systematic academic attention. This applies more specifically to their involvement in philanthropic activities. This paper describes and analyses the role of dubious sponsors particularly in Dutch amateur football. Although it is difficult to estimate the scope of the problem, results indicate that criminal sponsorship is not incidental. It mainly concerns corporate criminals, persons involved in drug crimes and outlaw motorcycle gangs. The main goal is to enhance their public image. In most cases, their involvement in crimes or regulatory offenses is difficult to assess without a doubt, which complicates preventative measures. Our analysis shows several interacting factors which increase clubs’ vulnerability to criminal infiltration: setting overambitious sportive goals; dependence on volunteers and a lack of formal integrity policies and internal compliance mechanisms; financial problems; and external pressures associated with the club’s role as the ‘pride’ of the city, the village or the neighbourhood.

The lifeblood of contemporary consumer capitalism is ever-growing and accelerating human needs for new consumer goods and services. Needs that remain unsatisfied on the one hand but defy the carrying capacity of planet Earth on the other. Anything but a win-win situation. Although excess harms, the infrastructure of consumption pays full service to perpetuate and cultivate the ‘more and faster’ orientation of today’s consumers. It is believed that we can cope with excess by taking efficiency measures and paying attention to recycling and refurbishing. This article, however, points out that there is need to rethink consumption and reconsider prevalent orientations dedicated to excess consumption more fundamentally.

The overexploitation of nature has led to anthropogenic defaunation, which results in complex socioeconomic, political and ecological consequences. Influenced by the economic growth of modernization and the interconnectedness of globalization, zoonotic diseases emerge as incalculable side effects of defaunation. By rejecting anthropocentric worldviews, this article critically examines anthropogenic defaunation and the causes and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic from a green criminological perspective.

This contribution reports about a research in a medium-sized municipality on the possibilities of giving municipalities an instrument to determine at the earliest possible stage which neighborhoods are at (increased) risk of exposure to organized crime and its consequences. We are searching for indicators to measure that exposure to give direction to preventive measures. Our focus is on the erosion of structures and foundations of society as a result of activities of organized crime, eventually resulting in the infringement of the rule of law. It is therefore not about the phenomenon of organized crime itself, but about its effects on society. This requires clarification and measurability of the concept. In this first exploration, we focus on the following five manifestations of the effect of organized crime: The emergence of a subculture: not recognizing government authority; the emergence of takeover of power in the neighborhood; the emergence of vulnerable groups of citizens; the creation of the image: crime pays off; and the emergence of unfair competition.