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M.R.J.Soudijn
M.F.J. Vijlbrief
INTRODUCTION
Organized crime in the Netherlands can be characterized as cross-
border crime. Criminal groups are primarily involved in illegal
international trade, using the same opportunity structure that facilitates
legal economic activities. For this reason, it is interesting to note that
the Netherlands also acts as a major production country for the
synthetic drug ecstasy. In 2008, the U.N. reported that 42 per cent of
the ecstasy seized worldwide originated in the Netherlands (UNODC
2008). The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also
recognized that seized batches were primary produced in clandestine
laboratories in the Netherlands and Belgium (see DEA website).
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ecstasy production process and ends with an examination of the
logistics of production (including the flow of goods, information, and
money) and, most importantly, at the people involved.
HISTORY
MDMA was first used recreationally in the early 1980s, and pills
containing MDMA were given the name ecstasy because of the
euphoria they caused. By 1984, MDMA was widely used as a
recreational drug (Shulgin & Shulgin 1991). In 1985, MDMA was
outlawed in the U.S. and placed on Schedule I of the Controlled
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Substances Act.2 As a result, the drug went underground and prices
skyrocketed.
About one year after ecstasy was outlawed in the U.S., it surfaced in
Europe and became popular in the party scene. In 1988, ecstasy was
added to List I of the Dutch Opium Act. The increase in ecstasy use
went hand in hand with the growing popularity of huge raves, techno
parties, and dance parties in the U.K., Belgium, and later in the
Netherlands.
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entrepreneurs exported the drug to other countries. Worldwide, a
substantial increase was seen in the counts of seized synthetic drugs
which had some connection with the Netherlands (Schoenmakers
2005). Various countries, including the U.S., confronted the
Netherlands with this issue. In 2001, partly as a response to
international pressure, the Dutch Justice Department released a
memorandum, in which synthetic drugs were made a distinct priority
among Dutch investigative authorities, a situation that continues to this
day (Vijlbrief 2009). But how did the Netherlands manage to become a
major producer of ecstasy, when the drug had its origins in the U.S.?
Most likely, a number of unique circumstances regarding supply and
demand for this drug lay at the root of this development (Blickman
2004).
An important factor in the supply side of ecstasy is the fact that the
infrastructure required for the production and trade in MDMA was
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already largely in place in the Netherlands. After all, the Dutch played a
leading role in illicit alcohol distillation and the production of
amphetamine since the 70s. Both production processes are suitable for
the production of ecstasy. In this respect, one can speak of "routine
socio-economic activities" (Blickman 2004). Criminal organizations then
only have to switch over to another product line, so to speak, in order
to manufacture the new drug. Examples of this type of shift in
production have indeed been encountered. A number of individuals
suspected of manufacturing MDMA were already known to the police,
for instance, from their past involvement in the illegal distillation of
alcohol. The laboratory experience required for ecstasy production, as
well as the contacts needed to obtain the necessary equipment and
chemicals, was already in place. In the 1970s, Dutch amphetamine
manufacturers already had good contacts and large supply markets in
Germany and Scandinavia (Huisman 2005). Moreover, their existing
partnerships allowed them to swiftly move in to serve the British market
for ecstasy. Through the years, a certain division of labor emerged
within the Netherlands: ecstasy was primarily manufactured in the
South, while traffickers with international contacts were concentrated in
and around Amsterdam.
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Ecstasy produced in the Netherlands is largely for export. Only a small
portion is for domestic consumption.5 This can be easily explained by
the considerably larger profit margins to be had in other countries,
especially those outside Europe. Since Dutch ecstasy producers have
a high level of expertise which results in high-quality products, their
pills are in demand. The average production cost of a single ecstasy
tablet amounts to €0.15 - €0.20, while individual tablets fetches an
average price of €3.49 each on the street in the Netherlands. The
street value is far higher in many major North American cities (€20-30),
Australia and New Zealand (about €30), and Japan (€25-50). These
price differences illustrate the motive for cross-border crime: export
and transit can produce significant profits.
1 Synthesis
The actual synthesis takes place in this phase and requires the
precursor Piperonyl Methyl Keton (PMK). PMK is primarily produced in
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China. The main legal application of PMK is as an ingredient in
perfumes and cleaning agents. However, the quantity required for
these uses is limited in comparison with that used in the production of
MDMA. Obtaining PMK is one of the greatest challenges in MDMA
production. Unlike other ingredients in MDMA, there are no good
alternatives for PMK. So to a large degree, PMK suppliers determine
the production of MDMA.
2 Distillation
In this phase of the process, various fluids are separated from one
another using their difference in boiling points. Hardware needed for
this phase include heating mantles, gas burners, 20-liter round-
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bottomed flasks with cooling units, a vacuum pump, temperature
gauge, or a distillation unit with collection tank. This phase takes
several hours. Synthesis and distillation can both be carried out within
a period of 10 hours.
3. Crystallization
During this phase, MDMA oil is transformed into a solid form which can
be readily absorbed by the human body. Acetone and hydrochloric acid
are used as solvent and acid. The actual crystallization can take place
in a plain plastic tub, a crystallization tank, or a deep freezer, and is a
time-consuming process. It takes at least 24 hours, and the mixture
must be stirred continually. The resulting crystals are occasionally sold
as a final product, though generally not in the Netherlands. In other
countries, MDMA sometimes appears in the form of these coarse
crystals. By and large, MDMA is first made into tablet form, for which a
number of further steps are needed.
4.Filtration
In the filtration phase, superfluous fluid is removed from the wet
MDMA. Common household materials are often used in this process.
The wet MDMA may be placed in a pillowcase and then spun in a spin-
drier or filtered using a homemade filtration device. A vacuum pump
and Büchner funnel are also needed. Following filtration, the MDMA
must be dried.
5. Drying
Unlike amphetamine, MDMA is generally consumed in pill form. To
make tablets, MDMA powder must be completely dry. The presence of
even the smallest amount of moisture will cause the pills to fall apart.
All kinds of equipment is used to dry MDMA power, from industrial
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drying cabinets to ovens to hair dryers. The powder can also be spread
out on a tarpaulin and dried using fans.
6. Pulverizing
The dried MDMA powder is still relatively coarse. To make pills, the
powder must first be made very fine. To do so, an industrial pulverizer
can be used, as well as mixers, meat grinders, and other common
kitchen equipment. Professional equipment is often used due to the
frequently large quantities of MDMA powder to be processed.
8. Tabletting
Ecstasy is nearly exclusively sold and used in the form of pills with
logos. In most cases, tabletting takes place in a different location than
the MDMA synthesis. This may have to do with attempts to spread the
risk, as well as the fact that different people with distinct expertise are
involved in this phase. To produce the pills, a tabletting machine is
needed and the associated logo-stamps. There are all kinds of
tabletting machines around, from relatively small pieces of equipment,
with a capacity of fewer than 5000 pills an hour, to large industrial
machines with a capacity of more than 15,000. Criminal organizations
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obtain tabletting machines second-hand, on the internet, or by buying
up the assets of bankrupt companies. Pill-stamps are used to print
logos on the pills. In practice, there are countless different sizes and
types of pills, but they almost always have a certain logo, for example,
a well-known brand of automobile or exclusive clothing line, or a
popular cartoon character. These stamps must be made of a special
reinforced steel because they are often used thousands of times. If one
were to use regular steel, the stamp would wear down too quickly and
the imprint would no longer be clear. Making these stamps is the work
of specialized professionals, who supply these high-quality stamps to
various tabletters. After the pills are made, they are weighed and
packed, and the production process is complete.
The above description makes clear that a number of links are essential
in the production of MDMA and ultimately ecstasy tablets: laboratory
technicians, suppliers of PMK and other ingredients necessary for the
synthesis, and producers of pill-stamps and necessary hardware. The
next section goes into these issues further.
Flow of goods
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The flow of goods is defined as the chain in which illegal goods or
services are produced or provided, including both real estate and
moveable goods, both legal and illegal. The flow of goods in relation to
the criminal business process for synthetic drugs is as follows:
Flow of information
The second component of the criminal business process is the flow of
information exchanged among members of the criminal organization as
a function of the business process, and includes content-related,
organizational, and social information.
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1. Flow of content-related information:
This comprises all information that has to do with the flow of
goods or money. The flow of information must be concealed
because it can lead directly to criminal acts or products. For this
reason, such information is exchanged as much as possible
during face-to-face meetings.
Flow of money
This comprises all financial transactions, be they cash or check, money
transfers or payment in kind.
Organization
Various roles can be differentiated on the basis of the above
breakdown of the production process and business transactions. An
organizer, for example, can be identified for each production process.
The organizer oversees the logistics from a higher managerial position.
In addition, they often finance the operation, or make use of investors
who are willing to fund part of the operation in exchange for a share of
the profits. These organizers shield themselves as much as possible
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from the actual operation by creating intermediary layers of personnel,
or assistants. For a set fee, assistants perform work like processing or
moving goods. The description of the business process showed that
specialized expertise was also necessary. This is rendered by service
providers. Service providers are paid per job, and do not share in the
profits of the criminal business process. But service providers have
specific knowledge or skills at their disposal, which makes them
scarcer than assistants. Service providers often only come to the fore
briefly in investigations, because their contributions frequently just
involve single transactions. Moreover, they often work for more than
one organizer, sometimes at the same time. Five important categories
of service providers follow:
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synthesis and/or tabletting. Only a few lab technicians are trained
chemists. The vast majority learn on the job (Spapens 2006).
At one end of the spectrum, one finds the view of organized crime as a
bureaucratic hierarchy. This (traditional) view of organized crime is
often traced back to the findings from several American congressional
committees on organized crime, such as Cressey's report for the 1967
Task Force on Organized Crime for the President's Crime Commission
(Cressey 1967). In this model, large-scale, ethnically homogeneous,
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hierarchical entities participate in various highly lucrative criminal
activities in a systematic (i.e., bureaucratic) way. Based on this view,
the judicial authorities should focus on the prosecution of the
organizers, without whom the criminal enterprise would collapse. This
leads to long-term investigations that take at least several months or
years.
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production process. On the other hand, targeting international
transporters is a less fruitful approach for an investigation. They are
easily replaceable and have less specialized skills than financial
advisers or lab technicians.
In many ways, the network model seems the best fit when it comes to
studying the synthetic drugs sector. Organizers make use of many
different couriers, transport personnel, lab technicians, and errand boys
and are not particularly committed to sustaining a working relationship
with any of them. However, the current view of organized crime as
being comprised of fluid criminal networks -- with few sustained or
hierarchical relationships and characterized instead by dynamism,
flexibility, and member turnover -- does need to be qualified. This is
especially true of organized crime operating in the synthetic drugs
sector (Vijlbrief 2009). First, there is often a group of core members
within networks who take the initiative, while co-perpetrators and
contractors are then approached on a more ad hoc basis (Klerks & Kop
2004; Soudijn 2006). For this reason, it is still useful to identify and try
to tackle the organizers.
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imported from China. Several police investigations have revealed a
pattern of Chinese criminals bringing PMK into the Netherlands and
selling it to Dutch producers of Ecstasy (Huisman & Smits 2008;
Soudijn & Kleemans 2009). Due to language barriers and the scarcity
of the product, the import side has become the exclusive domain of
Chinese criminals. One could argue that they make up part of the
network of the Dutch synthetic drug producers. But one could also
argue that the Chinese and Dutch criminals constitute two separate
networks that work together. The illegal importation of PMK itself
constitutes a separate criminal process.
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difficulty obtaining this precursor. For the moment, drug experts have
observed that less ecstasy is being confiscated worldwide.1
1
Pills often include a mixture of MDMA and other substances or MDMA substitutes.
However, limited forensic capacity often leads to confusion about the actual content of tablets
believed to be "ecstasy" (MDMA) (WDR 2009, p. 115).
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Five research questions for students- these questions should
challenge the students to go do research. Think about research
questions that need to be done. What is the next step in
researching x? See my examples below:
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References
Albini, J.L. (1971). The American Mafia: Genesis of a Legend. New York: Appleton,
Crofts.
Bruinsma, G., & Bernasco, W. (2004). Criminal groups and transnational illegal
markets: A more detailed examination on the basis of Social Network Theory.
Crime, Law & Social Change, 41, 79-94.
Cressey, D.R. (1967). The functions and structure of criminal syndicates. President’s
Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice: Task Force report:
Organized crime. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office
Felson, M., & Clarke, R. V. (1998). Opportunity Makes the Thief: Practical Theory for
Crime Prevention. London: Police Research Series.
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Ianni, F.J. (1974). Black Mafia: Ethnic Succession in Organized Crime. New York:
Simon and Schuster.
Kleemans, E.R., van den Berg, E.A.I.M. & van de Bunt, H.G. (1998). Georganiseerde
criminaliteit in Nederland, Rapportage op basis van de Monitor Georganiseerde
Criminaliteit. The Hague: WODC, Onderzoek en Beleid.
Kleemans, E.R., Brienen, M.E.L. & van de Bunt, H.G. (2002). Georganiseerde
criminaliteit in Nederland, Tweede rapportage op basis van de Monitor
Georganiseerde Criminaliteit. The Hague: WODC, Onderzoek en Beleid.
Kleemans, E.R. (2004). Crossing Borders: Organised Crime in the Netherlands. In:
Organised Crime in Europe. Concepts, Patterns and Control Policies in de EU and
Beyond. Eds. Fijnaut, C. & L. Paoli. Dordrecht: Springer.
Kleemans, E.R., Soudijn, M.R.J. & Weenink, A.W. (2010). Situational crime
prevention and cross-border crime. (forthcoming).
Klerks, P.P.H.M. & Kop, N. (2004). De analyse van criminele infrastructuren, verslag
van een pilotproject. Onderzoeksgroep Politieacademie.
Korf, D.J. (2003). What makes ecstasy so successful? International Synthetic Drug
Conference, The Hague, 8-9 October.
Ministerie van Justitie (2001). Samenspannen tegen ECSTASY. Een plan van
aanpak ter intensivering van het Nederlandse beleid inzake synthetische drugs.
Ministerie van Justitie (2002). ‘Plan van aanpak drugssmokkel Schiphol’. Tweede
Kamer, vergaderjaar 2001–2002, 28 192, nr. 1.
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Programmatorische Federale Overheidsdienst (POD) Wetenschapsbeleid (2008).
Chemische profilering van afvalstoffen uit de clandestiene productie van drugs.
Louvain: KUL.
Reuter, P. (1983). Disorganized Crime: Illegal Markets and the Mafia. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Rogovin, C.H. & Martens, F.T. (1997). The Evil That Men Do. In: Ryan, P.J. & G.E.
Rush (eds.). Understanding Organized Crime in Global Perspective, a Reader.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. pp. 26-36.
Soudijn, M.R.J. (2006) Chinese Human Smuggling in Transit. The Hague: Boom.
Soudijn, M.R.J. & Kleemans, E.R. (2009). Chinese Organized Crime and Situational
Context: a Comparison of Human Smuggling and Synthetic Drugs Trafficking. Crime,
Law and Social Change (XXX).
UNODC (2008). World Drug Report 2008. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime.
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Van Calster, P. (2008). Netwerkonderzoek als perspectief op georganiseerde
criminaliteit. In: Justitiële verkenningen. Sociale Netwerkanalyse. Jaargang 34 (5)
2008, pp. 33-51.
Relevant websites
DEA website on MDMA
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/mdma/mdma.htm
mdma.net
http://www.mdma.net/
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http://www.rcmp.ca/crimint/ci_reports_e.htm
ILLUSTRATIONS
MDMA laboratory
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Specialized equipment, such as flasks and glass mantles
ENDNOTES:
1
PiHKAL stands for “Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved.” Shulgin devoted nearly 30
years of his life to synthesizing, using, and evaluating almost 200 types of chemical substances. He
also tested new substances on his wife and close friends. They describe their findings and
experiences in PiHKAL (Shulgin & Shulgin, 1991).
2
Schedule I drugs are deemed too dangerous to have any accepted medical or therapeutic
purposes. MDMA is listed along with LSD and MDA.
3
For more information on the harmful effects of all kinds of drugs, see also
www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications (Risk Assessments)
4
“Current use” means use by a person in the past month (Huisman & Smits, 2008).
5
An extensive study in 2003 concluded that an estimated 78 to 131 million pills of ecstasy are
manufactured per year in the Netherlands. Of these, 7 to 13 million are for the domestic market, 43 to
73 for the EU market, and 28-48 for the rest of the world. This means that the Netherlands is
responsible for supplying a total of 32-42% of the total global demand for ecstasy pills (Blickman,
2004).
6
Article 10a of the Dutch Opium Act was formulated for this purpose: it criminalizes certain
actions as preparatory acts. This makes it a criminal offence, even in the case of raw materials that
are not in themselves illegal, to acquire, possess, or sell them with the intent of using them for illegal
purposes.
2
5