Samenvatting

In the Netherlands, municipalities are in charge of dealing with problematic youth networks. However, municipalities have the feeling that they lose sight of such networks. As a possible explanation, scientists as well as practitioners state that problematic youth networks might have shifted their activities from offline to online (less visible) forms of crime. In this case study, we found evidence in support of this hypothesis. We unravelled a criminal youth network that primarily committed cybercrime, but in part consisted of members who were formerly known as members of a traditional criminal network. Our case study also confirms other findings from prior research: the cybercriminal network has local roots and traditional social ties played an important role in the formation of the network. Members for example know each other because they went to the same school or because they grew up in the same neighbourhood. Furthermore, there are several indications that the criminal network is involved in traditional criminal offences, such as drug trade, financial crimes (tax-related, forgery, money laundering) and violence. Our case thus also highlights that offline and online crime are intertwined.
It has long been advocated that a multidisciplinary approach is needed to tackle cybercrime. With regard to tackling a cybercriminal network, it however seems to be rather unique that we have brought this idea into practice. More specifically, the RIEC-partnership in the North of the Netherlands was utilized, which enabled the cooperation between several municipalities, the police, the Tax Administration and the Netherlands Labour Authority. From this joint endeavour, we conclude that an integral approach to tackle a cybercriminal network pays off. It enhances the information position of the cooperating parties and increases possibilities to intervene, compared to a monodisciplinary (police) approach. Therefore, we call for other partnerships to follow our example.