Looking for displacement effects: exploring the case of ecstasy and amphetamine in the Netherlands

This article assesses the role of crime displacement within organized crime, taking the Dutch synthetic drugs market as a case study. Since the late 1990s, the policy of the Dutch government has focused on raising barriers to synthetic drugs producers in obtaining precursors and other essential chemicals. The reason is simple. Without these chemicals there would be no synthetic drugs. Over the years, this policy has resulted in a scarcity of the main ingredients for synthetic drugs. But how have criminal organizations responded to this scarcity? Can displacement effects be identified and can they be attributed to specific prevention measures? The answer is a partial yes. Yes, crime displacement can be identified in organized crime. However, measuring the precise effects remains complex.