Cocaine Markets and Drug Enforcement in Spain and the Netherlands
| Author | Thomas Ellis,Rosemary Barberet,Claire Nee,David Denney |
| Date | 01 April 2002 |
| Published date | 01 April 2002 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X0207500203 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
THOMAS ELLIS
Senior Lecturer, Institute
of
Criminal Justice Studies, University
of
Portsmouth
DAVID DENNEY
Reader, Department
of
Social and Political Science, Royal
Holloway, University
of
London
CLAIRE NEE
Senior Research Fellow and Director
of
the Centre for
Criminological and Legal Psychology, Department
of
Psychology, University
of
Portsmouth
ROSEMARY BARBERET
Lecturer, Scarman Centre, University
of
Leicester
COCAINE MARKETS AND DRUG
ENFORCEMENT IN SPAIN AND
THE NETHERLANDS
This article summarises some key findings from a United
Nations exploratory research study (Savona, Dom and Ellis,
1993; Ellis 1996). The complex cocaine-distributing processes
in Spain and the Netherlands are outlined, followed by a
discussion of the complexities of enforcement procedures to
combat them. Finally, the article draws some tentative conclu-
sions for policy makers relating to the convergences and
differences in both cocaine markets and methods of enforce-
ment in all three countries.
Drugs have been at the forefront of major proposals for change
in law enforcement and legislation in a number of countries.
Drugs have also transnationalised approaches to policing, yet we
currently know little about the policing of drugs. Most European
studies have concentrated on the treatment of those who use
drugs rather than issues relating to enforcement. This article aims
to describe the complex distributing processes in Spain and the
Netherlands. It then discusses some of the complexities of
enforcement procedures in the two countries and considers these
in the light of possible policy developments.
The fieldwork* in Spain was carried out in Madrid and
Galicia and in the Netherlands, Amsterdam. This was an
exploratory piece
of
research about the mutual interaction
between cocaine markets and drug enforcement. We did not have
The Police Journal, Volume 75 (2002) 101
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