#andy kraag

[tomorrowusa]

Investigators have found that Vladimir Putin was largely responsible for supplying the missile system which shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The attack killed 298 passengers and crew – many of them Dutch citizens.

Russia has always denied any involvement in the downing of the flight over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, and refused to cooperate with the international investigation.

Dutch prosecutors said that "there are strong indications that the Russian president decided on supplying" a Buk missile system — the weapon that downed MH17 — to Ukrainian separatists.

The war in Ukraine began in 2014 with Putin’s illegal seizure of Crimea and the insurgency by Russian-backed separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk. The invasion a year ago was simply a massive escalation of the war.

As well as the criminal trial that was held in the Netherlands, the Dutch and Ukrainian governments are suing Russia at the European Court of Human Rights over its alleged role in the downing of MH17.

The findings revealed Wednesday will likely strengthen the case at the human rights court and could also be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court who are investigating possible war crimes in Ukraine dating back to the start of the separatist conflict.

Putin has been a war criminal for eight years longer than people generally assume.

This news regarding ML17 reminded me of the excellent book Greetings from Novorossiya: Eyewitness to the War in Ukraine by Polish journalist Paweł Pieniążek. Pieniążek, who was 25 at the time, covered Ukraine in 2014 – including the shootdown of ML17. His understated and personal style make this an excellent read. His fluency in Ukrainian and Russian gave him the access and understanding of the conflict which monolingual Anglophones lacked. Anybody who read this book before 2022 would have been less surprised by developments over the past 12 months.

[theechudar]

MH17 inquiry: ‘Strong indications’ Putin approved missile supply

An international investigation team found “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved missile supply to Ukrainian separatists who shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014. Digna van Boetzelaer, the Netherlands, Andy Kraag, the Netherlands, David McLean, Australia, Asha Hoe Soo Lian, Malaysia, Eric van der Sypt, Belgium, and Oleksandr Bannyk, Ukraine, take their…

[atlanticsentinel]

Dutch Police Spend Too Much Time on Drugs

Dutch police spend too much time on drugs

Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands at night (Dreamstime/Péter Gudella) Dutch police chief Andy Kraag revealed in an interview this month that three out of four detectives are working on drug cases. Even if that’s a mild exaggeration (Kraag meant to underscore the scope of the drug problem), we know police devote more resources to drugs than any other crime. 20 to 30 percent of their budget,…

[actuma]

Afbeeldingen voortvluchtige veroordeelden getoond op vliegvelden

Nederland - Het Openbaar Ministerie (OM) en de politie vertonen van 18 tot en met 31 juli voortvluchtige veroordeelden op beeldschermen in de vertrekgates op Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport en Eindhoven Airport. Het vermoeden bestaat dat deze voortvluchtigen zich in het buitenland schuilhouden en zo hun opgelegde straf ontlopen. Reizigers wordt gevraagd in het buitenland uit te kijken naar deze personen en de politie te tippen. Het gaat hier om criminelen die in Nederland zijn veroordeeld tot gevangenisstraffen variërend tussen de 4 jaar voor een gewapende overval tot levenslang voor moord. Het Fugitive Action Search Team Nederland (FASTNL) van de Landelijk Eenheid en het Landelijk Parket van het OM hebben voor deze campagne acht voortvluchtige veroordeelden geselecteerd die zich schuldig hebben gemaakt aan ernstige delicten en slachtoffers hebben gemaakt. Met het vertonen van afbeeldingen van deze veroordeelden wil de politie door de extra aandacht informatie verzamelen over waar de voortvluchtigen zich bevinden, wie hun contacten zijn en hoopt ze recente beelden te ontvangen. En of zij wellicht reizen (al dan niet onder een valse identiteit) naar andere landen om familie te bezoeken. Straf ontlopen Voor de slachtoffers en voor nabestaanden is het moeilijk te verteren dat deze criminelen zich verschuilen in een ander land en hierdoor hun opgelegde straf ontlopen. Zo hoopt bijvoorbeeld de zus van de in 1995 vermoorde Karin Maarleveld dat de dader de opgelegde tien jaar gevangenisstraf alsnog uitzit. En ook de kinderen van de in 2015 vermoorde Victoria Retsjika zou het rust geven als de moordenaar van hun moeder alsnog twalf jaar de cel in gaat. Belemmeringen Om diverse redenen kan de Nederlandse politie sommige criminelen niet laten arresteren in een ander land. Dit heeft er bijvoorbeeld mee te maken dat Nederland niet met alle landen een uitleveringsverdrag heeft, dat in de landen waar de veroordeelde verblijft een andere verjaringstermijn geldt of dat sommige landen het recht in eigen hand nemen en daar bijvoorbeeld de doodstraf geldt. Desalniettemin blijven politie en justitie onuitputtelijk zoeken naar bestaande en nieuwe oplossingen om deze voortvluchtigen alsnog op te pakken zodat ze hun straf niet ontlopen. Officier van justitie Yolande Oosterhof: “Opsporing, vervolging en een veroordeling zijn zinloos als de opgelegde straf vervolgens niet wordt ondergaan.” Genoegdoening Hoofd van de Dienst Landelijke Recherche Andy Kraag: “Justitie en politie blijven onverminderd doorgaan om ervoor te zorgen dat een veroordeelde zijn opgelegde straf uitzit. Niemand is onvindbaar en wij stoppen niet. Niet in de opsporing van deze voortvluchtigen en niet in het vinden van nieuwe oplossingen om criminelen die in Nederland veroordeeld zijn, op te pakken. We doen alles wat nodig is, dus ze kunnen zich beter melden bij de politie om de straf uit te zitten. Er is recht gesproken en er moet recht worden gedaan. In de eerste plaats voor de slachtoffers en nabestaanden, maar ook als genoegdoening voor de samenleving.” Tips Het vermoeden bestaat dat een aantal voortvluchtigen onder een andere naam of met valse documenten reist om zo bijvoorbeeld familie te zien. Het zou kunnen dat ze zich ook in deze maanden verplaatsen. De politie heeft eerder op televisie aandacht gevraagd voor deze voortvluchtigen en vraagt nu specifiek reizigers in het buitenland ook uit te kijken naar deze personen en informatie te delen via www.politie.nl/opdevlucht. Op deze website is meer te lezen over de voortvluchtigen, het mogelijke land van hun verblijf en hoe er getipt kan worden. FASTNL FASTNL is een gespecialiseerd team van de Dienst Landelijke Recherche dat samen met het Landelijk Parket onttrokken TBS’ers en voortvluchtigen opspoort die nog minimaal driehonderd dagen gevangenisstraf open hebben staan of nog meer dan 10.000 euro moeten betalen in verband met een ontnemingsmaatregel. FASTNL spoort veroordeelden op in binnen- en buitenland waarbij ze in nauw contact staan met andere collega’s via het European Network of Fast Teams (ENFAST)De groep voortvluchtigen veroordeelden bestaat uit ongeveer zeshonderd personen en daar komen elke week nieuwe zaken bij. Het betreffen voornamelijk zware criminelen die zijn veroordeeld voor moord-/doodslag-, zeden-, drugs- of geweldsdelicten. Bron: Politie Read the full article

[kevindurkiin]

Joint Dutch-Australian Police Operation Seizes $200 Million Worth of MDMA

A joint operation by agencies in Australia and the Netherlands has seized $200 million worth of MDMA and broken up a massive smuggling operation. Charges have been filed against 11 people in the raid. The seized raw materials are believed to have been getting ready to target holidaying teens in Australia, claims a minister.

“That is one of the most significant operations in the history of the collaboration between all of our agencies,” said Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who leads Australia’s police and security agencies.

The investigation lasted months leading to the raid, in which around 1,540 pounds of crystalline MDMA were intercepted in August in the Dutch port of Rotterdam, the Australian Federal Police said.

According to IB Times, the Dutch police then raided an additional 15 locations in the Netherlands and Belgium on November 5, uncovering two hidden laboratories, additional stashes of MDMA and 50 tonnes of precursor chemicals, police said. That amount could be used to make more than 10 million ecstasy pills, according to officials.

“We believe that this criminal network was involved and able to produce many thousands of kilos of MDMA, equivalent to tens of millions of pills, a large part of which was likely destined for Australia,” said Andy Kraag, assistant commissioner of the Dutch National Criminal Investigations Division.

Kraag said those arrested in Europe included two “high-value targets” of a significant Dutch drug-running network and that further arrests were expected.

“We want to target the complete chain,” he said.

  via IB Times | Photo: Australia Federal Police / Handout

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Joint Dutch-Australian Police Operation Seizes $200 Million Worth of MDMA

Joint Dutch-Australian Police Operation Seizes $200 Million Worth of MDMA published first on https://soundwizreview.tumblr.com/

[bluebuzzmusic]

Joint Dutch-Australian Police Operation Seizes $200 Million Worth of MDMA

A joint operation by agencies in Australia and the Netherlands has seized $200 million worth of MDMA and broken up a massive smuggling operation. Charges have been filed against 11 people in the raid. The seized raw materials are believed to have been getting ready to target holidaying teens in Australia, claims a minister.

“That is one of the most significant operations in the history of the collaboration between all of our agencies,” said Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who leads Australia’s police and security agencies.

The investigation lasted months leading to the raid, in which around 1,540 pounds of crystalline MDMA were intercepted in August in the Dutch port of Rotterdam, the Australian Federal Police said.

According to IB Times, the Dutch police then raided an additional 15 locations in the Netherlands and Belgium on November 5, uncovering two hidden laboratories, additional stashes of MDMA and 50 tonnes of precursor chemicals, police said. That amount could be used to make more than 10 million ecstasy pills, according to officials.

“We believe that this criminal network was involved and able to produce many thousands of kilos of MDMA, equivalent to tens of millions of pills, a large part of which was likely destined for Australia,” said Andy Kraag, assistant commissioner of the Dutch National Criminal Investigations Division.

Kraag said those arrested in Europe included two “high-value targets” of a significant Dutch drug-running network and that further arrests were expected.

“We want to target the complete chain,” he said.

  via IB Times | Photo: Australia Federal Police / Handout

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Joint Dutch-Australian Police Operation Seizes $200 Million Worth of MDMA

source https://www.youredm.com/2019/11/22/joint-dutch-australian-police-operation-seizes-200-million-worth-of-mdma/

[hudsonespie]

Torture Chamber Discovered In Shipping Containers; 6 Suspects Arrested

An announcement by the authorities of Netherlands has knocked open a new window into the Dutch criminal underworld with its discovery of torture chambers found hidden inside make-shift shipping containers.

On June 22nd, 2020, the officers held a raid at the site at Wouwse Plantage, on the Dutch-Belgian borders after being tipped off by encrypted messages from an EncroChat phone. According to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK, EncroChat is a secure messaging service, used as a criminal marketplace to co-ordinate the distribution of illegal cargo, money laundering as well as rival killings by over 60,000 users.

The message called the warehouse a “treatment room” and “ebi” which is suspected to be a reference to a Dutch prison of high-security. It also included pictures of the containers, dentist chairs with arm and foot straps, etc. While one container had been sound-proofed with heat-insulation tapes and used as a torture chamber, the other containers (found with handcuffs) are presumed to have been used as a lock-up cell for victims. The police had placed CCTV surveillance and warned potential victims beforehand, who have now gone into hiding.

Image Credits: National Dutch Police

Authorities claim that a number of serious violent crimes had been prevented owing to the raid. Six men have now been arrested on suspicion of crimes that comprise serious assaults and kidnapping. The suspects are now detained for 90 days in view of the investigation.

Almost 100 suspects have been arrested over the months through successful raids carried out by the UK and European police, after the French Police successfully cracked the communication network. Firearms, 8000 kilograms of cocaine and 1200 kilograms of crystal meth have been seized too, along with the successful dismantling of 19 drug labs

Image Credits: National Dutch Police

A thorough search of the containers revealed tools like handcuffs, black cotton bags, hedge cutters, scalpels, and pliers, assumed to have been used to threaten or torture victims in the chambers. 24 kilos of MDMA were also discovered. Delivery vans, a total of 25 weapons, and 2 BMWs were among all the raid-discoveries.

The raid is believed to have come about after investigating leads since April through decoding the EncroChat messages. Head of Police’s National Investigation Service, Andy Kraag stated that the results of the ‘26Lemont’ (code-name of investigation) have led to great results. “…and take it from me, many more results will follow”, he said.

Reference: smh.com.au | cnn.com

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[itsfinancethings]

(THE HAGUE, Netherlands) — Dutch police arrested six men after discovering sea containers that had been converted into a makeshift prison and sound-proofed “torture chamber” complete with a dentist’s chair, tools including pliers and scalpels and handcuffs, a high ranking officer announced Tuesday.

Authorities said police conducted the raid before the torture chamber could be used and alerted potential victims, who went into hiding.

The grisly discovery was made last month by officers investigating leads generated by data from encrypted phones used by criminals that were cracked recently by French police. Detectives in Britain and the Netherlands have already arrested hundreds of suspects based on the encrypted messages.

Tuesday’s announcement gave a chilling insight into the increasingly violent Dutch criminal underworld, which is involved in the large scale production and trafficking of drugs.

Dutch police said last week that their investigations, code-named 26Lemont, based on millions of messages from the EncroChat phones, had led to the arrest of more than 100 suspects and seizure of more than 8,000 kilograms (17,600 pounds) of cocaine and 1,200 kilograms (2,600 pounds) of crystal meth as well as the dismantling of 19 synthetic drugs labs and seizure of dozens of firearms.

On June 22, Dutch national police force officers arrested six men on suspicion of crimes including preparing kidnappings and serious assault. Detectives also discovered the seven converted sea containers in a warehouse in Wouwse Plantage, a small village in the southwestern Netherlands, close to the border with Belgium, according to a statement released Tuesday.

They were tipped off by messages from an EncroChat phone including photos of the container and dentist’s chair with belts attached to the arm and foot supports. The messages called the warehouse the “treatment room” and the “ebi,” a reference to a top security Dutch prison. The messages also reaveled identities of potential victims, who were warned and went into hiding, police said.

Video released by the police showed a heavily armed arrest team blasting open a door at the warehouse and discovering the improvised prison. Another armed team detained a suspect in Rotterdam.

“Six of the containers were intended as cells in which people could be tied up and one container was intended as a torture chamber,” Andy Kraag, head of the police’s National Investigation Service, said in a video released by police, adding that the police operation “prevented a number of violent crimes.”

A search of the containers uncovered bags containing tools including hedge cutters, scalpels and pliers. The tools “were likely intended to torture victims or at least put them under pressure,” the police statement said.

In searches of other properties, including what police described as a base for the criminals near the port city of Rotterdam, officers found police uniforms and body armor, stolen vehicles, 25 firearms and drugs.

A court in Amsterdam ordered the six suspects held for 90 days as investigations continue.

“This is a great result of the 26Lemont investigation,” Kraag said. “And, take it from me, many more results will follow.”