Her Ex-husband for 20 years Erik van Toorenburg a real estate dealer made a huge fortune by buying up properties, splitting them up and selling them on. In a short period of time, he bought 130 million worth of real estate and sold it for many more bucks. Nevertheless, Van Toorenburg came to the attention of the authorities. He was suspected of all kinds of shady business and was said to be running a far from decent real estate company. Before he had to appear in court, he fled abroad in 2007. "He is reportedly in Thailand," Het Parool wrote in 2017.

'Dutch hitman (15) seriously injured after attack on Chechen mafia leader in Hamburg'

Two people were injured in a shooting at a Turkish restaurant in Hamburg on January 12. It is said to be a 15-year-old masked hitman from the Netherlands and the target, a 49-year-old man who is probably a high-ranking member of the Chechen mafia. This is reported by various German media.

The underage gunman entered the restaurant on Steindamm in the St. Georg district around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday evening, January 12, wearing a mask and shooting a 49-year-old man, who is believed to be a leader of the Chechen mafia. The victim was injured in his legs.

Chased
After the shooting, the 15-year-old boy fled in the direction of Hansaplatz, where he was allegedly chased by six men from the vicinity of the shot victim. According to eyewitnesses, the teenager was chased into an Italian restaurant, knocked down and shot in the legs. The teenager was then allegedly kicked by the men.

Arrests
In addition to the shot Chechen, German police have arrested two other suspects, aged 32 and 52. Four other suspects, aged 18 to 22, are reportedly being investigated. They have not yet been arrested. The 15-year-old shooter was also arrested on the spot and is in custody, along with the other three suspects.

Conflict between Dutch and Chechen criminals
The police assume a conflict between a group of Dutch and Chechen criminals, in which the underage shooter was recruited for the attack. According to sources, the Dutch teenager was previously involved in two violent crimes in North Rhine-Westphalia, in one of which firearms were also used.

Forced prostitution
According to German media, the background of the shooting could be a conflict over forced prostitution and human trafficking. The Chechen group would try to gain control over Bulgarian street prostitutes in Hamburg.

The German National Criminal Investigation Department has taken up the investigation. The police are looking for witnesses who know more.

https://www.crimesite.nl/nederlands...-kopstuk-tsjetsjeense-maffia-in-hamburg/

Taghi's lawyers' request for recusal rejected, Marengo trial can continue
The request for disqualification from Ridouan Taghi's lawyers was rejected on Friday. There will therefore be no new judges in the appeal against the main suspect in the Marengo trial. The disqualification chamber ruled that there were no grounds for the disqualification.

Vito Shukrula and Carlo Crince le Roy, Taghi's new lawyers, had challenged the Amsterdam court of appeal because they felt that the judges had given the impression of bias. They asked for sixteen months of preparation time to study the 80,000-page file, but the challenge chamber did not give them that time.

Extensive
According to the court, the case is extensive and the new defense is expected to do a lot, but the case is not very complicated. The lawyers previously warned that they would drop the defense if they were given less time. Whether they will do so now is still unclear.

There will be a new hearing in the case on February 5. The substantive hearing of the appeal is scheduled for the end of 2025.

Bolle Jos is hiding in Sierra Leone according to National Police, he is said to be close to the President of the country.

Jos during a church service in Sierra Leone
According to an outspoken politician, Bolle Jos would bribe high officials in the West African country. He would also have a relationship with the president's daughter, the newspaper reports . That daughter can be seen next to the drug criminal in the images.

https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws...le-jos-houdt-zich-schuil-in-sierra-leone

Sierra Leone investigating reports Dutch drug kingpin took refuge in country

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vo...gpin-took-refuge-in-country/7951251.html

A new video has surfaced of fugitive “Bolle Jos” Leijdekkers, seen during a brawl at a nightclub in Sierra Leone. The video was taken during New Year’s Eve 2022-2023, following a shooting that left a man seriously injured.

The video shows Bolle Jos during a riot in a nightclub in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Shortly before or after, a Lebanese man was seriously injured in a shooting. According to local media, the shooter was a bodyguard for a “highly connected Turkish guy”.

Opposition members in Sierra Leone claim that this bodyguard was employed by Leijdekkers, who entered the country with false papers. Although this story has been circulating in Sierra Leone for some time, there is still no conclusive evidence. The incident caused a great deal of commotion in the country at the time and dominated the local news.

https://www.crimesite.nl/nieuwe-video-bolle-jos-duikt-op-video/

I completely forgot about old timer Faas. Major player of the penoze back in the days

From butter smuggling to Belgium to ecstasy to Australia

Butter, hash and pills
21,99
In stock. Order now, receive on Wednesday
Buy at bol.com

On the Belgian coast, a legendary smuggler is enjoying his old age. Sjef Faas (84) was smart enough to retire peacefully, something that bigger criminals often fail to do. He did spend a few years indoors. But unlike others, he can tell the story. Even his adventures with Klaas Bruinsma and Sreten Jocic.


In a book by journalist Joost van der Wegen, the long criminal life story of Sjef Faas is recorded: Butter, hash and pills .

Faas had just started as an apprentice to sail with an inland waterway skipper when his parents opened a pub on the Zeeland-Flemish border with Belgium in 1959. That café quickly became a landing place for smugglers where Sjef could get all kinds of lucrative small jobs. More attractive jobs than on the inland waterway.

Driving for butter smugglers to Belgium for example, they were always short of drivers. First driving empty cars back, then also cars with merchandise to Belgium.

Breakneck stunts

It is hard to imagine in these times of the European Union. In the fifties and sixties there was no EU and borders were very important. The Netherlands heavily subsidized dairy farmers on the price of butter and Belgium had therefore imposed a hefty import duty on Dutch butter.

These price differences led to unimaginable scenes on the small roads between the Netherlands and Belgium. The customs officers were shooting with live ammunition and the butter drivers were performing daredevil stunts, strewing crow's feet on the road and driving straight through roadblocks.


Eastern Bloc

Faas became a full-time criminal and developed into a logistics expert. When the European Community equalized butter prices, Faas switched to trading in illegal American cigarettes that had been imported without excise duty.

He bought the cigarettes in the Eastern Bloc, from behind the Iron Curtain, in East Germany and Poland, and picked them up on seagoing vessels. The state companies in those countries fully cooperated in the forgery of the papers.


Bruinsma

After that Faas ended up in Lebanon and became one of the founding fathers of the hash import in the Netherlands, again based on his knowledge of transport. He was one of the major suppliers of Klaas Bruinsma, and later he supplied Heineken kidnapper who had gone into drugs after his release, Cor van Hout.

In hash smuggling, things did not always go well. After a few thousand kilos were seized in England, Faas was wrongly blamed for the failure. The notorious Amsterdam Serb Sreten “Jotsa” Jocic imposed a criminal fine of one million on him and threatened Faas' family members with death. Faas did not flinch.

A meeting of Faas with Jocic and “Sergio” Miranovic ( shot dead in 2006) only resulted in new threats. He can only breathe a sigh of relief when Jocic is arrested in Bulgaria in 2002, and eventually extradited to Serbia.


Eleven million

Faas usually did well with the drug transports, except that he did run into two hefty convictions. In 1997, the Middelburg court sentenced him to
six years in prison for a number of impressive hash transports. And in 2005 he got seven years in a major ecstasy case about transports to Australia. That was reduced to 4.5 years on appeal.

Faas was actually ready for retirement at that time.

In the hashish file in Middelburg, the police had calculated that he had stashed away some eleven million guilders in Switzerland. Faas was unable to access that for a number of years. When he was able to, a few million had grown in the meantime.


And so the old butter smuggler Faas enjoys a luxurious old age in Knokke-Heist.

https://www.crimesite.nl/van-botersmokkel-naar-belgie-tot-xtc-naar-australie/

Crime
Manhunt underway after one of Europe's most-wanted fugitives spotted at religious service in Sierra Leone, police say
Updated on: February 6, 2025 / 6:23 AM EST / CBS/AFP

Police in Sierra Leone have said they are hunting a Dutch drug trafficker who is one of Europe's most-wanted fugitives and believed to be hiding out in the west African country.

Jos Leijdekkers was sentenced in absentia by a Rotterdam court in June last year to 24 years in prison for organizing the transport of seven tons of cocaine and ordering a murder.

Suspicion that he was in Sierra Leone arose after the country's first lady Fatima Bio posted pictures and a video on social media that showed a man strongly resembling Leijdekkers at a religious service attended by President Julius Maada Bio.

National police inspector general William Fayia Sellu said investigators had identified the man in the photos as Leijdekkers, alias "Omar Sheriff."

Convicted cocaine smuggler Jos Leijdekkers attends a church service in Tihun, Sierra Leone, January 1, 2025, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video.
First lady Fatima Maada Bio via Facebook/via REUTERS

"A police man-hunt has been launched to arrest him, visiting several locations, but he has not been found yet," he told a news conference.

The 33-year-old — who authorities say is also known as "Bolle Jos" ("Chubby Jos") — is on the European Union law enforcement agency Europol's most-wanted list.

"Leijdekkers is considered to be one of the key players in international cocaine trafficking," according to Europol.

Leijdekkers is also believed to be involved in the disappearance and death of Naima Jillal, a woman who went missing in 2019 after she got into a car in Amsterdam, according to Europol. Intercepted messages allegedly showed that Leijdekkers "played an important role in Jillal's disappearance," the agency said.

"For a long time, there was no trace of Naima Jillal, until photos of a woman believed to be her were found on a phone seized in the Marengo investigation," Europol said. "The photos show that she was most likely tortured and is probably no longer alive."

Last month, the BBC reported that Dutch prosecutor Wim de Bruin said the fugitive's return to the Netherlands was of "the highest priority."

Europol has offered a 200,000-euro ($208,000) reward for information leading to his arrest.

As the BBC notes, West Africa is a major transit point for the trafficking of cocaine from Latin America. Last month, Sierra Leone recalled its ambassador from neighbouring Guinea after seven suitcases containing suspected cocaine were found in an embassy vehicle.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/europe-wanted-fugitive-jos-leijdekkers-religious-service-sierra-leone/

Sophie van Leeuwen, journalist and Africa correspondent for RTL News, was arrested in Sierra Leone on Thursday. Van Leeuwen is in the country to make stories about the Breda drug criminal Jos Leijdekkers, also known as Bolle Jos.

The journalist was arrested on Thursday at a checkpoint near the capital Freetown, RTL Nieuws reports. She is suspected of illegally recording images. Van Leeuwen attended a press conference of the country's Ministry of Information on Wednesday.

"We understand that she is being interrogated by the CID. Her belongings have been searched," RTL editor-in-chief Ilse Oppenneer said in a statement. According to the news organization, Van Leeuwen worked with the correct accreditation and with permission from local authorities.

A lawyer was with Van Leeuwen. She was released again on Thursday evening. Pending further questioning, the journalist is not allowed to leave the country. "We are happy that she is doing well," reports editor-in-chief Oppenneer.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also aware of the incident with the Africa correspondent and is providing assistance. The spokesperson cannot say anything about what this assistance entails.

"The president and his government are merciless," opposition leader Mohamed K Mansaray told Omroep Brabant. "They do everything and go to great lengths to protect Jos Leijdekkers."

Mansaray had contact with Van Leeuwen before she traveled to the country. "She wanted to make sure she did everything by the book," he says. According to Mansaray, Van Leeuwen wanted to take a look at the village of Tokeh this Thursday, near a resort where Leijdekkers is believed to be hiding. "They recently set up a checkpoint there, she was arrested there and taken to the CID."

The Sierra Leonean journalist organization SLAJ states that it is not often that journalists are arrested in the country in this way. According to the chairman of the organization, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, the police have said that Van Leeuwen is suspected of possible espionage.

The country's Ministry of Information, however, reportedly said it did have the proper accreditation.

Last January it emerged that Jos Leijdekkers was hiding in Sierra Leone. On images of a New Year's mass, the Breda drug criminal could be seen together with the daughter of the country's president. In the meantime, the Ministry of Justice and Security has submitted an extradition request to the authorities of Sierra Leone.

Bolle Jos is seen as the biggest drug criminal in our country and is on the national wanted list. Leijdekkers was sentenced in the Netherlands to 24 years in prison for international cocaine trafficking and for giving a murder order.

Money laundering case against Piet W. (54) started, justice suspects him of more
The trial against Siegfried "Piet" W. started today in the Rotterdam court.

Panorama Editorial
Feb 18, 2025 | 2:53 PM

Officially, W. is on trial for laundering millions of euros, but according to Crimesite, the justice department sees him as a major player in the international drug trade. He could also be linked to liquidations. Despite years of investigation, the Public Prosecution Service has no hard evidence for this.

On the radar for fifteen years
W. has been high on the justice system's priority list for over fifteen years. Where serious criminals like Ridouan Taghi and "Bolle Jos" Leijdekkers were convicted on the basis of clear evidence, this appears to be much more difficult with W. So far, he has only been convicted once: in 2014 he was sentenced to 7 years in prison for smuggling 1,100 kilos of cocaine.

Justice has since attempted to link him to larger drug shipments, including shipments of tens of thousands of kilos of cocaine to Hong Kong and Cape Verde, among other places. But because the evidence was insufficient, this did not lead to a conviction.

Money laundering with luxury possessions
The current case officially revolves around money laundering. The Public Prosecution Service states that W. spent millions of euros without a demonstrable legal source of income. According to the judiciary, he financed a Surinamese political party, owned several luxury cars – including a Rolls-Royce – and had millions in gold in his possession.

W. himself denies that there is any criminal money involved. His defense states that he earned his fortune with gold trading and concessions for logging and gold mining. The convicted Surinamese vice-president Ronnie Brunswijk even claims that the almost six million euros in gold that the justice department attributes to W., was his. However, the justice department questions this explanation.

Involved in liquidations?
W.'s name would also surface in investigations into various liquidations. Anonymous tips and wiretapped conversations point to his involvement in a cocaine racket in 2019. Shortly afterwards, two men were liquidated: former professional footballer Kelvin Maynard in Amsterdam and Genciël 'Genna' Feller in Curaçao.

However, again there is no hard evidence that W. was involved in these murders.

https://panorama.nl/artikel/636315/...-begonnen-justitie-verdenkt-hem-van-meer

Dutch Turk arrested in Casablanca on suspicion of arms trafficking
Morocco 1Feb 28 1:55
A Dutch national of Turkish descent was arrested on Thursday at Mohammed V airport in Casablanca.
He was arrested on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by the Dutch judiciary for alleged involvement in arms trafficking.

The man arrived on a flight from Istanbul and was immediately checked against the Interpol database. This showed that he was wanted internationally for possession and trafficking of firearms. The Moroccan authorities have placed him in custody pending his possible extradition to the Netherlands.

The Netherlands has been informed of the arrest and must now provide the extradition file. The arrest is part of the international cooperation against cross-border crime, in which Moroccan security services actively track down wanted persons.

Bolle Jos celebrates a birthday with the head of the narcotica brigade of Sierra Leone.

https://youtu.be/k2fR6wVXwY0?si=Ht7HJR_87YLUYa-T

Bolle Jos has become a cult figure here a jolly guy on the run in Africa facing 24 years but with amazing connections.

After the AD and Follow the Money published a new video on Friday with images of Bolle Jos Leijdekkers in Sierra Leone, a high-ranking civil servant of that country has been fired, according to the Algemeen Dagblad. It concerns the head of the Immigration Service Alusine Kanneh.

The video shows him celebrating his fiftieth birthday in an expensive restaurant, and receiving a gift from Leijdekkers. Whether the abrupt dismissal is related to the compromising video has not been confirmed.

The recent video also features Andrew Kaikai, the head of the country's drug police.

The Netherlands wants Sierra Leone to arrest and extradite Leijdekkers. The Dutch justice department has offered a reward of 200,000 euros for the golden tip that leads to his arrest.

AIVD does not always comply with the law when investigating organised crime
By our news editors
Mar 14, 2025 at 6:01 pm

The General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) does not always comply with the law in investigations into organised crime, say supervisors. This compromises the right to a fair trial, among other things.
Minister of the Interior Judith Uitermark reports the concerns on behalf of the Assessment Committee for the Use of Powers (TIB) and the Intelligence and Security Services Review Committee (CTIVD) in a letter to Parliament .

Several people were wrongly identified as targets. Over time, it was no longer clear whether their criminal actions still posed a threat to national security. In the case of "ordinary" crime, it becomes a matter for the police. The fact that the AIVD continued to monitor these people is "worrying" to the supervisors.

The TIB and CTIVD also saw the AIVD working in areas that fall under police investigation. As a result, the intelligence service sometimes investigates cases about which the police already have information. Instead of both investigating, information should be exchanged. Duplication of work would infringe on someone's fundamental rights, such as the right to a fair trial.

Furthermore, the watchdogs believe that the AIVD should be extra careful when following people who do not pose a threat themselves, but who can provide access to important information. According to the supervisors, the bar should be raised when choosing to investigate these people.

Judge's permission
The AIVD also investigates infiltration and corruption by criminals in governments and companies. In doing so, the intelligence service also provides too little substantiation as to why the persons under investigation or their criminal networks are a threat to national security.

The AIVD also does not handle information of people who are entitled to confidential treatment, such as lawyers, carefully. The service may only use such data after permission from the court. Otherwise, they must destroy it immediately. This has not gone well several times in the past year. The AIVD has been called to account for this on several occasions.

The supervisors hope that their advice will be incorporated in the revision of the Intelligence and Security Services Act (Wiv). This sets out the powers and responsibilities of the AIVD.

Drug boss Edin Gacanin arrested again in Dubai after a deal with Dutch justice he has to serve 7 years here.

Edin Ga?anin, aka Tito, leader of one of the world's largest cartels, arrested in Dubai
News Index
20:16, March 17, 2025.
\
AT THE REQUEST of the Dutch State Prosecutor's Office, convicted drug trafficker Edin Ga?anin Tito has been arrested in Dubai. This criminal from Breda was already arrested in Dubai in 2022, but was then released for reasons that have never been clarified. The Dutch citizen of Bosnian origin is considered one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world. The Dutch prosecutor's office has already requested his extradition.

Edin Ga?anin was born in Bosnia but grew up in the Dutch city of Breda. In recent years, he has spent most of his time in Dubai, where he was arrested in 2022 as part of a major international police operation. However, he was released about two months later.

His problems didn't stop there, as Dutch prosecutors have since prepared criminal proceedings against him. He was charged with smuggling around 2,500 kilograms of cocaine, worth tens of millions of euros, into the ports of Rotterdam and Hamburg. He was also suspected of smuggling chemicals intended for the production of methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth.

In that case, his lawyers Laura Versluis and Leon van Kleef entered into a so-called procedural agreement with the prosecution. This means that the prosecution and the defense agreed that the lawyers would not request additional investigation, while in return the prosecution would not request the maximum sentence. In the end, they agreed on a prison sentence of seven years and a fine of one million euros. The court accepted this agreement and sentenced Ga?anin according to the prosecution's request.

The Netherlands seeks extradition
A spokesperson for the Dutch prosecutor's office confirmed to Crimesite that the drug lord was arrested in February this year in Dubai at the request of the Netherlands. "The Netherlands has also submitted an extradition request. We expect the procedure to be carried out without any problems," the spokesperson said.

Edin Ga?anin was allegedly one of the key figures in an international supercartel in Dubai, which, according to judicial sources, also included Ridouan Taghi, arrested and fugitive Italian mobster Raffaele Imperiale, and the notorious Irish crime family Kinahan. The supercartel, according to investigators, controlled a third of the cocaine trade from South America to Europe.

Lawyer Van Kleef declined to comment on the arrest, but he previously said that claims about his client being one of the world's biggest drug lords were "pure nonsense." "That's just nonsense. There's only one case against him and it's an average drug trafficking case like we have in court all the time. Nothing special," Van Kleef said. His colleague Versluis also declined to comment on the case.

https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/u-dubaiju-uhicen-edin-gacanin-zvani-tito-vodja-superkartela/2652368.aspx#:~:text=AT%20THE%20REQUEST,on%20the%20case.

No Idea if he is still alive, but he is one of the few top guys who survived all those years even LE spoke of him with high regards.

November 1, 2008
9 min.
Entrepreneur Norbert Stok
The entrepreneurship of hash dealer Norbert Stok has been praised more than once by the Justice Department. One of the keys to his success was his complete obscurity.

Economy November December 2008 60 Story
Written by:
Bart Middelburg

If the number of hits on Google is indicative of this, which is highly doubtful, then former Heineken kidnapper and extortionist Willem Holleeder is by far the best-known Dutch (top) criminal. He gets 131,000 hits (reference date 27 August 2008). After Holleeder comes Klaas Bruinsma, who, although dead for seventeen years, gets 36,400. After that, the numbers drop rapidly. Johnny Mieremet gets 16,900 mentions, his former partner Sam Klepper 15,800, Mink Kok 5140, and Johan 'the Hacker' Verhoek 2880. Finally, Norbert Stok gets no further than eleven hits. Norbert who?

For legal entrepreneurs, the widest possible name recognition is of vital importance; the PR budgets of listed companies are higher than ever. For wholesalers of illegal stimulants and other criminal entrepreneurs, the opposite applies: publicity, and the resulting fame, are usually the beginning of the end. It leads to increased vigilance by the investigative apparatus, and banks and business relations become wary.

Good entrepreneurship means something completely different in the underworld than in the upper world. In the legal economy, an entrepreneur is judged on relatively vague concepts such as 'courage', 'perseverance', 'decisiveness' and 'innovation'. With regard to organised crime, we can define successful entrepreneurship much more concretely: making a lot of money with illegal trade without insurmountable problems with government services such as the police, the judiciary and the tax authorities, and without getting involved in bloody conflicts on the monkey rock that is the underworld. The best-known top criminals are therefore extremely bad entrepreneurs: either they end up behind bars or they suffer fatal injuries.

Notorious criminals
Willem Holleeder: has been sentenced to too many long prison sentences in his criminal career to still be able to speak of successful entrepreneurship. In 1987 he was sentenced to eleven years in prison for the Heineken kidnapping, in December 2007 he was sentenced to another nine years in prison for extorting real estate traders.

Klaas Bruinsma: was shot dead in 1991, at the age of 37, during a common drunken brawl at the Amsterdam Hilton. He built a large enterprise from scratch, but the egomaniac mafia boss was also permanently involved in time- and money-consuming intrigues.

Sam Klepper: was liquidated in 2000 at the age of 40 at his penthouse in Buitenveldert. Klepper could initially boast an even career. He started his career with a successful gang of robbers; in the mid-eighties he switched (with Mieremet) to the Bruinsma gang. In the late nineties he focused (again with Mieremet) on extortion, and in doing so dug his own grave.

Johnny Mieremet: cut from the same cloth, with the difference that Mieremet was a warned man after the liquidation of Klepper. Was shot dead in Thailand at the end of 2005 at the age of 45. Complained shortly before his death in wiretapped conversations that he and his wife were being 'fucked' (financially disadvantaged) by everyone.

Mink Kok: was considered virtually elusive in the nineties, and also the intellect of the Amsterdam underworld. Eventually, things went wrong: Kok was in prison from 1999 to the summer of 2007, almost a decade, for a number of spectacular weapons finds.

Entertainment industry
In short, from the perspective of sustainable entrepreneurship, there is general malaise in the higher echelons of the stimulant market. Only a few succeed in limiting the criminal damage in the long term and live much longer than 40 – a forgotten minority to which, among others, Norbertus Rudolphus Antonius Stok (Amsterdam, 1953) can be counted.

Norbert Stok's entrepreneurship (son of a medical specialist) has a number of specific characteristics. Firstly, he is praised to the skies from time to time by competent parties (such as public prosecutors and scientists) for his expertise. The network in which he participated at the time was characterized in 1995 by professor of criminal law Petrus van Duyne, based on information from the Ministry of Justice, to the Van Traa inquiry committee as a smuggling organization "at a fairly high level" and with dizzying turnovers. Where all that money went was also a mystery to Van Duyne. "One of them invested in the entertainment industry." He apparently meant Stok, who was registered in the Trade Register around 1990 as a dealer in CDs.

In 1996, public prosecutor Jules Wortel described Stok to an Amsterdam examining magistrate as one of the most talented and meritorious hash dealers in the Netherlands. “We have always associated Stok with hash from Afghanistan and Pakistan.” Another officer, Martin Witteveen, told the Amsterdam court in 1998 that Stok was part of a “small elite of international hash dealers who are able to permanently operate drug ships across the world’s oceans.” It is unthinkable that the Justice Department would ever have praised criminal entrepreneurs such as Holleeder, Bruinsma, Klepper or Mieremet in such terms.

Low profile
The second characteristic is Stok's proverbial low profile: attracting unwanted attention, from the Justice Department or from criminals, is taboo. Where other criminal entrepreneurs display various degrees of show-off behavior (expensive sports cars, yachts, spending all night with lots of coke in sex clubs, bodyguards, etc.), Stok always watches the pennies. He allegedly forbids employees to spend their money conspicuously in the Netherlands; they can do that abroad. He himself drives old, inconspicuous cars. When the police observed him in the mid-nineties, it turned out that Stok goes swimming in the De Mirandabad for an hour once a week. One of his nicknames is 'Scrooge'.

Third characteristic: Stok is, literally, a survivor. During the war that raged in the Amsterdam underworld for years, dozens of bigwigs and lesser gods were eliminated, but Stok, as far as is known, was not even involved in a brawl during all that time. The fact that he managed to stay out of harm's way for so long probably has to do with the fact that he himself uses little or no violence. Henk Schutten and I once suggested in an article in Het Parool , based on information from the Justice Department, that the organization of Stok and his then partner, a certain Leo, had indeed used extreme violence at one time in the late eighties.

Schutten and I were then summoned to the office of the late Pieter Herman Bakker Schut, Stok's lawyer and his partner. The strongly philosophically inclined partner Leo in particular was furious about the suggestion of serious violence, and handed us a letter with reflections on the phenomena of media and democracy: "As far as I know, a democracy is not automatically the terror of the masses, but also protects the rights of the individual."

And fourthly: Stok has always managed to keep the police and the judiciary at a reasonable distance, except for a few industrial accidents. In 1987 he was arrested for possession of various batches of hash, spread throughout the country. After years of procedural wrangling, Stok was sentenced in January 1992 by the court of appeal in Arnhem to ten months in prison for “participation in a legal entity with the aim of committing crimes.” He did not have to serve that sentence until 1995.

Smuggling network
Around 1990, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands launched a joint investigation (codename: Octopus) into drug trafficking and the laundering of huge amounts of money. Among other things, this investigation established that, on Stok's orders, tens of millions of Canadian dollars had been smuggled from Canada to Europe by several couriers. In 1991, the Amsterdam police and the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) drew up a so-called analysis of the smuggling network. At the top of the list of suspects in this analysis were Stok and his partner Leo.

One of Stok cs' money couriers stated to the Amsterdam police in 1992: "At first I didn't know that it was drug money, but later Norbert Stok told me this." Stok was never prosecuted in the Octopus case: the Amsterdam public prosecutor Jo Valente decided to stop the investigation in 1993, because Stok was mainly focused on money laundering, which was not yet an independent criminal offence at the time. Switzerland did confiscate part of the smuggled money (almost nine million Canadian dollars, half a million American dollars, and a consignment of diamonds).

Stok et al. then attempted to get all that money back by claiming that it came from oil trading, outside of OPEC (oil producing and exporting countries). Stok allegedly acted as a money smuggler. “Between 1990 and 1992 I acted as a transporter of money that had been paid for the purchase of oil by a Canadian company,” Stok himself once stated about this. “It involved a total of 10 million Canadian dollars, which had to be transported from Canada to countries in Europe and the Middle East.” For example, the Swiss authorities received a letter from a Nigerian lawyer, who stated that the money had been earned legally via the Lagos-based company Nigus Petroleum Ltd. Switzerland did not believe this at all: upon further investigation, it turned out that the Nigerian lawyer and Nigus Petroleum did not exist at all.

Perjury
In the late nineties, Stok was again given a limited prison sentence. In October 1997, he told an Amsterdam examining magistrate that he had indeed been convicted of drug trafficking: “I have never been convicted of similar activities and am not currently involved in them.”

Strictly speaking, that was perjury. At that time, the Amsterdam Justice Department had been keeping an eye on Stok's large-scale hashish transport for months: in 1997, he smuggled seventeen tons of hashish from Pakistan to Kenya with the ship Asean Explorer, with Australia as the presumed final destination. In February 1998, Stok was arrested in that case; he was eventually sentenced to a year in prison.

What Norbert Stok has done since then is unknown. He also does not wish to provide any clarification; his lawyer, Victor Koppe, initially seemed prepared to comment after consultation with Stok, but then did not respond to any further communication. It cannot be ruled out that Stok has retired. He does turn up very occasionally. In October 2000, for example, shortly after top criminal Sam Klepper had been liquidated, the Amsterdam police noted in tapped telephone conversations that Stok had maintained close contact with Klepper's associate Johnny Mieremet. For example, Stok Mieremet said that on the day Klepper was murdered, "an hour before the liquidation" he had been called by a business associate, telling him that he should "check teletext" later that day. Later, Stok Mieremet reported that he had spoken to the 'man' in question again and that he now knew "a great deal more".

Stok's long-time companion Leo, on the other hand, is certain to have taken a completely different path: he now writes philosophical, spiritual books that are translated into English, French, German and Spanish.

Text: Bart Middelburg
November-December 2008

It's interesting how Dutch top criminals can make a deal when it only comes to drug trafficking.

'Ecstasy king makes deal on criminal case'
The once notorious Schinveld pill king Peter van Dijk (68), also known as “the Fat One”, has made procedural agreements with the public prosecutor in a criminal case. In exchange for waiving the investigation requests and appeal, the Public Prosecution Service will demand three years in prison. In addition, Van D. must then pay a fine of 100,000 euros.

For drug cases from 2020 and 2021.

Man found in garden near his home
'Dutchman (32) liquidated in Brazil, got into a fight with gangsters after he wanted to take over drug territory'
author avatar
Marcel Vink

Modified: 58 min ago59 min agoin Abroad

GUARUS - A 32-year-old Dutchman has been liquidated in Brazil. According to media in the country, he was shot dead after a fight with gangsters in the region. Our compatriot is said to have wanted to seize power in the territory of the criminal organization, near Rio de Janeiro, to engage in drug trafficking.



The Dutchman who was liquidated in Brazil is said to be called Marley.

The Dutchman, whose first name is Marley and whose photo was published in Brazilian media, is said to be involved in the drug trade, according to local police. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not yet comment on the tragedy early this afternoon.

He was found dead in the backyard of his home. The case was registered with the 146th Department of Guarús. According to the Civil Police, an investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of his death, as well as the perpetrator of the crime.

Dutchman was liquidated north of Rio de Janeiro
The tragedy took place in Guarus, which is part of the Campos dos Goytacazes district, north of Rio de Janeiro. It is suspected that he was murdered by members of a gang that was active in the region. Marley is said to have laid claim to the drug trade in the Guarus area. According to the police, that seems to have been fatal for him.

According to the police, the Dutchman's "area of ??operation" was São Francisco de Itabapoana, but he recently also tried to seize power in a nearby area in Guarus. The area where he wanted to expand his influence was controlled by a criminal who is in prison.

Liquidated Dutchman connected to various companies
According to online data, he is said to be connected to various companies in Brazil. The thirty-something - who originally came from Rotterdam, but later moved to the municipality of Achtkarspelen in Friesland - is said to have a criminal record in Brazil for attempted murder and domestic violence, according to media.

He also has a criminal record in the Netherlands. Court documents state that, as a resident of the village of Gerkesklooster, he was sentenced to four weeks in prison - two of which were suspended - for riding a motorcycle without a license. He was also given 80 hours of community service because he refused a blood test after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was also given a suspended prison sentence of two weeks.

Suspicion of exploiting a woman
His name also surfaced in cases involving suspicions of exploiting a woman via the sex site Kinky.nl, assaulting and threatening a police officer, trespassing at a hotel in Spijkenisse, possession of a driving licence resulting from a criminal offence, resisting arrest and filling up without paying for petrol.

A person under his name wrote a song about the prison in 2007, in the Antenne section of the medium Rotterdam Magazine. The song is called, including the spelling mistakes, 'Het vetrek uit me cel'. He also complains that year about the usefulness of the entrance gates at the RET Rotterdam, which is responsible for the metros in the Port City.

"I think they're stupid gates," he responds to a post. "Every time that thing starts beeping. I even opened it once with a plastic bag so I don't get the point of those gates."

Peter was a pioneer remember XTC/MDMA was still legal in the 80s.

In the 1950s, the American and German armies, among others, tested various psychoactive substances including MDMA. Dr. Albert van Schoor described in his 1952 lab journal how MDMA killed 6 flies after 30 minutes. In 1959, Dr. Fruhstorfer conducted research into psychostimulants . One of the substances he worked with, H671, turned out to be MDMA. The first scientific article on MDMA appeared in 1960. It describes, among other things, its synthesis. It is written in Polish and virtually unknown. In 1978, Alexander Shulgin first described the psychotropic effects of MDMA in humans.

Former professional boxer (40) from Almere target of assassination attempts, also explosion at boxing school (UPDATE)
A 40-year-old owner of a boxing school on Bakkenzuigerstraat in Almere has been the target of assassination attempts twice in a short period of time. He was shot on both December 24, 2024 and January 6 of this year. An explosive also went off at his boxing school. It concerns owner and ex-boxer Suriel Hooker from Almere.

On Christmas Eve 2024, H. was shot at around 22:15 on Bakkenzuigerstraat. When he left his building, a darkly dressed man walked towards him. He started shooting at the boxing school owner from about 15 meters away. The intended victim managed to run away. He remained unharmed. This was reported by the TV program Opsporing Verzocht , which paid attention to the case on Tuesday evening.

Opel Corsa
The shooter fled in a waiting gray Opel Corsa with a black roof. That car was later seen in Amsterdam. The police want to know who the shooter is and who was driving the Opel Corsa in Almere. They may have a link with the capital.

New attempt
On Monday, January 6 at 10:30 p.m., the boxing gym owner came under fire again . The shooter emerged from the bushes across from the gym and appeared to stumble as he pulled the trigger. The 40-year-old target was able to get into his car quickly enough and get away.

More than a week later, the police arrested a 17-year-old suspect from Lelystad for the attempted assassination on January 6.

Explosion
In the night of 15 to 16 January, an explosive was detonated at the boxing school on Bakkenzuigerstraat. The building was severely damaged by the resulting fire. No one was present at the time. No one has been arrested for the explosion.

Police would like to know why someone would target the ex-boxer and his boxing school.

'Temporarily closed'
Former professional boxer Suriel H. (born in Curaçao) has been a trainer and owner of (kick)boxing school Seconds Out in Almere since 2018. He made his debut as a professional boxer in 2013 in the middleweight division and fought several professional matches. In 2017 he won the Ben Bril Memorial Boxing Gala, the largest boxing gala in the Netherlands.

H. was the kickboxing coach of Oshadix Dwedar, the younger brother of Jason L., alias rapper Djaga Djaga , a few years ago .

The website of boxing school Seconds Out states that the business is 'temporarily closed due to circumstances'.

https://www.crimesite.nl/ex-profbok...tiepogingen-ook-explosie-bij-boksschool/

This week's Europol report !

The Netherlands remains the main source region of MDMA trafficking flows worldwide, although Germany, Bulgaria and Belgium appear to be emerging as distribution hubs for MDMA to both European and external markets. A significant part of the MDMA produced in the Netherlands may be intended for more profitable overseas markets. Air and maritime transport appear to be the main methods used to traffic MDMA from Europe to external markets.

MDMA: a large and profitable market for criminal networks

https://www.euda.europa.eu/publications/eu-drug-markets/mdma/key-findings-and-threat-assessment_en

Saturday, 29 March 2025 - 09:15

Two killed, one injured in Oosterhout shooting; Mayor calls for calm
Two men were killed and another was seriously wounded in a shooting Friday afternoon in Oosterhout, Noord-Brabant. Mayor Gerdo van Grootheest expressed shock over the deadly incident and urged residents to remain calm while authorities investigate.

The violence unfolded just before 4 p.m. when shots were fired on Loevesteinlaan. Officers responding to the scene discovered two men in a car with severe gunshot wounds. One later died from his injuries. Further down Sint Antoniusstraat, police found another critically injured man in a vehicle. Despite resuscitation efforts, he did not survive. Authorities have clarified that the victim in Sint Antoniusstraat had moved there after being wounded earlier.

The identities of the victims have not been officially released. De Telegraaf, citing multiple sources, reported that one of the deceased was known as "Bandi" and had ties to the drug trade. The seriously wounded victim, who later died, was allegedly his nephew.

"With disbelief and horror, I have learned of the terrible incidents that took place this afternoon in Oosterhout," Van Grootheest said in a statement. He acknowledged the unrest in the neighborhood and assured residents that authorities are actively investigating. "As mayor, I remain in close contact with the public prosecutor and the police. I urge everyone to remain calm and give the police space to conduct their investigation."

Initial reports suggested gunfire at two locations, but police have now confirmed that the shooting occurred only on Loevesteinlaan. The second location, Sint Antoniusstraat, was where a wounded victim later succumbed to his injuries.

A vehicle possibly linked to the shooting was discovered a few kilometers away in Teteringen. The car has been seized as part of the investigation.

The Turkish Ahmet Yesevi Mosque and the Moroccan Almohsinin Mosque in Oosterhout confirmed that the victims were members of their communities, according to Omroep Brabant. Almohsinin secretary Yousef Elhadjoui called the incident "incredibly tragic" and said the mosque opened its doors Friday evening for people to support each other.

Meanwhile, police have condemned the spread of graphic images of the shooting that have been circulating online. "We want to emphasize that sharing these images is not only disrespectful but also extremely painful for the victims' families," a police spokesperson said. Authorities have urged the public to respect the privacy of those involved.

Reporting by ANP and NL Times