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Netherlands: Speculative police raids

01 March 1994

Holland's leading quality newspaper NRC Handelsblad has exposed a widespread police practice of regularly breaking into the houses, offices and other premises of suspects in order to check out whether an official house search on a warrant would produce any evidence. On several occasions bugging devices were installed. The newspaper states that public prosecutors and police detectives have confirmed that such clandestine burglaries take place throughout the country. These operations are systematically kept out of all internal and external reporting, but the public prosecutors and all five Procurators-General (who supervise the public prosecutor's offices) are aware of and support these activities. Police officers in black training suits carry out these "looking operations" as they are called. These police operations are clearly in violation of the penal code and have never been admitted before, although political activists have encountered the "men in black" in the past and there has been ample indications of burglaries by intelligence services.

This week the five Procurators-General, who have semi- independent policy-making powers, have agreed on broadening the scope of police infiltrations and other undercover activities. A central commission is to be installed to oversee and approve such operations in order to come to a national harmonization. Under certain conditions police undercover agents will be allowed to sell drugs, including hard drugs to a maximum quantity of several kilos, in order to gain the confidence of criminals. The establishment and use of so-called "front stores", phoney corporations such as transport companies and financial service firms, to do business with criminal organizations will be allowed as well.

NRC Handelsblad, 25.3.94.