Some nuisance is caused by addicts from abroad who are illegally resident in the Netherlands and drug "tourists" from neighbouring EU states. Drug users come to the Netherlands from Germany, Belgium, France and other countries to procure and/or use drugs. Drug tourism occurs in various municipalities along the eastern and southern borders of the Netherlands, such as Arnhem, Venlo, Heerlen and Maastricht, and in a number of towns further into the interior of the country. Some of these people use the drugs they have bought in the Netherlands, others take some home for themselves or others.
Hard drug tourism often goes hand-in-hand with aggressive recruitment methods (drug runners) and with intolerable nuisance in residential areas and town centres.
The battle against drug tourism on what is known as the Hazeldonk route (Hazeldonk being a border crossing between the Netherlands and Belgium), which runs from Lille, through Antwerp, to Rotterdam, is being carried out in cooperation with the French and Belgian authorities. Activities are being directed at both drug runners and drug tourism.
In 1994 over 800 drug tourists and drug runners were arrested. The work involved cost the Dutch police approximately 35,200 man- hours. Drug running on sections of the motorway in Belgium and the Netherlands has declined but the phenomenon requires constant attention. Clamp-downs by the police impose a considerable burden on available cell capacity.
Police action has resulted in the problems shifting from one place to another, to other sections of the border and to other drug trafficking locations. The mode of transport involved also changed, with more use being made of the train.
In 1995 an integrated offensive against nuisance caused by drugs, code-named Victor, was started by the Rotterdam authorities. This too resulted in the sealing of many premises and in the arrest of several hundred foreign drug tourists and drug runners. This repressive policy aimed at discouraging foreign drug tourism will be continued in the years ahead. At the same time, more priority will be given to investigating and prosecuting the leading figures behind the local consumer markets for hard drugs, that is to say the people who manage the drug runners and dealers in premises used for drug trafficking etc.
Consultations have been initiated involving the judicial authorities in Belgium and Northern France and members of the Dutch Public Prosecutions Department, with a view to tackling the problem in a more structural manner; proper cooperation between the police and investigation services is a primary concern. There has been an exchange of judicial officials and police officers between France and the Netherlands, which has improved cooperation between the police and judiciary in the two countries.
Policy is aimed at ensuring better coordination of the activities of the various police forces along the southern and eastern borders of the Netherlands in this field and at having the prosecution of foreign drug offenders transferred to the authorities in their country of origin wherever possible. Care of addicts and prevention are also discussed with neighbouring countries. Consultations will also be held on the compulsion and dissuasion projects (see below), which will involve addicts from abroad who have been found guilty of an offence in the Netherlands being given the opportunity of undergoing treatment in their country of origin as an alternative to serving a prison sentence in the Netherlands. In view of the limited capacity which exists, particularly in France, for the care of addicts, expectations should not be set too high in the short term, however. The Netherlands has submitted a proposal on tackling drug tourism as part of the European plan to combat drugs. Within the framework of that plan the European Commission has proposed the establishment of a Community programme of action on the prevention of drug addiction*. This programme would provide an opportunity for improving care for addicts within the European Union.
The obvious measures which can be taken where foreign addicts commit criminal offences in the Netherlands, including small- scale trafficking and drug running, include detection, prosecution and sentencing or transfer of criminal proceedings, immediate deportation and, where possible, declaring those concerned to be persona non grata (section 21 of the Aliens Act). We believe that in exceptional circumstances it is also justifiable immediately to deport EU citizens (section 100, subsection 4, of the Aliens Act), who are entitled to reside in the Netherlands under European law and who generally enjoy special protection from deportation. Drug tourists from neighbouring countries who commit criminal offences and as a result cause breaches of the peace must take into account the likelihood that they will be deported immediately under the terms of the Aliens Act. Under no circumstances may they take it for granted that the Netherlands is prepared to become the main care centre for European heroin addicts. A stop will be put to the export to the Netherlands of other countries' drug problems.