Dommelstroom Achieves Results in the Fight Against Organized Crime

2025 Annual Report on Subversion: Dommelstroom

Last year, the Dommelstroom task force achieved impressive results in the fight against organized crime. The close cooperation between six municipalities (Cranendonck, Geldrop-Mierlo, Heeze-Leende, Nuenen, Son en Breugel, and Valkenswaard), the police, the Public Prosecution Service, and the Tax and Customs Administration is once again proving successful. 

7 cannabis farms dismantled, 1 drug lab, and 2 drug dumping sites. A total of 14 properties closed under the Damocles Act and 5 administrative fines imposed.
These are some of the figures from the 2025 annual report on subversion by the Dommelstroom Basic Team. 
In 2025, numerous administrative inspections were also conducted, such as in garage units, commercial buildings, and storage warehouses. The municipalities’ Damocles policy (closing properties after discovering commercial quantities of drugs) was expanded to include the nitrous oxide ban. The uniform Bibob policy (promotion of integrity assessment in public administration) of the six municipalities participating in Dommelstroom was updated and expanded.
 

The core team has gained extensive experience with data-driven approaches. By linking data and adding indicators—such as vacant, dilapidated, and remote properties—they were able to identify vulnerable properties in industrial parks and rural areas across various municipalities. The municipalities in question then addressed these locations. Residents or users were informed that they were at risk of encountering subversive criminal activity. Tips were also provided on how to prevent this. A number of properties were inspected, which in some cases led to further investigations and enforcement actions.   

Resilience

The approach to combating subversion does not focus solely on physical and visible actions, such as dismantling cannabis farms or drug labs. It is also important that residents, business owners, and public officials are resilient against subversive crime. This means they can recognize warning signs and are given guidance on how to respond if they do encounter subversive crime. In the Dommelstroom region, significant investments will therefore once again be made in 2025 to increase resilience against subversion.  During inspections of industrial parks or rural areas by the municipalities, for example, business owners or residents were routinely made aware of the dangers of undermining crime and the risk of encountering it. Vacant warehouses, for instance, are attractive to criminals. The Dommelstroom Intervention Team (a collaboration between municipalities and enforcement partners such as the police, environmental services, and the fire department) was deployed to support these efforts.

Focus on young talent 

In addition to business owners and residents, another key target group is our youth. We must prevent young people from slipping into the criminal underworld. The “Preventing Youth Recruiting” project continued the collaboration with chain partners that began in 2024, with the goal of laying the groundwork for the approach within the six municipalities. This includes structural collaboration with chain partners, youth work, and hiring a youth process manager. 

Strong Together Against Subversion

Collaboration and mutual reinforcement are key elements of the integrated approach to organized crime. To this end, the partners leverage their knowledge and expertise based on their respective roles and authorities. In the criminal justice system, these are the police and the Public Prosecution Service; in the tax sector, the Tax and Customs Administration; and in the administrative sector, the municipalities. The RIEC Oost Brabant (Regional Information and Expertise Center) supports the collaborating authorities and connects knowledge and information. 

Together, we stand as a united government against subversive crime, and we are #strongertogetheragainstsubversion. 

Annual Report on the DommelstroomI Project

In the Annual Report on Subversive Crime, the Dommelstroom core team reports on the results achieved in the fight against subversive crime.