Penose

Penose

Founding location	Netherlands
Territory	Netherlands
Ethnicity	Predominantly Dutch, Surinamese Creoles, Dutch Antilleans, Ambonese Moluccans, Moroccans and Belgians
Criminal activities	Arms trafficking, assault, drug trafficking, extortion, fraud, human trafficking, murder, prostitution, theft.

Penose is a colloquial term that is used to describe the organized criminal underbelly in Amsterdam and other major cities in the Netherlands.

Origin of the word

Organized crime in the Netherlands goes back to the 18th century when organized groups of thieves, pimps and shady travelling salesmen created a cant language named Bargoens to communicate with each other. Out of the language there arose a couple of new words which would become part of the Dutch folklore. Until this day the word Penose ( which arose from Bargoens) is still used by some people to describe the Dutch underworld in which the organized crime bosses thrive. The word is mostly used in Amsterdam, but has also spread to other big cities in the Netherlands such as The Hague, Rotterdam or Eindhoven.

Organized crime in the Netherlands

Organized crime in the Netherlands began as far back as the 18th century when a mythical group named De Bokkenrijders terrorised the southern part of the Netherlands and the eastern part of Belgium. Nowadays the Netherlands is known as the biggest exporter of ecstasy in the world, while Dutch gangs are also a major exporter of cocaine, cannabis and a smaller exporter of heroin. In the drugs business they closely cooperate with British 'Firms' and Colombian cartels for the importation and exportation of ecstasy and cocaine, while they cooperate with Moroccan drug barons in the Riffian areas and with Pashtun drug lords based in Pakistan for the importation of hashish.

Each major city in the Netherlands is known for having its own organized crime bosses. While the term Penose was and still is used to describe the ethnic Dutch crime lords, it has now been used in a broader context. The Netherlands is also home to communities of people from former colonies. Surinamese, Moroccan, Dutch Antillean and Ambonese gangsters and crime bosses are now actively part of the Dutch Penose'. Due to immigration there are strong Turkish, Chinese, Yugoslav and Albanian communities in the Netherlands. Crime bosses from these communities are not regarded as a part of the traditional Penose, although they're an active part of the Dutch criminal underworld nonetheless. The reason why Surinamese, Antillean, Moroccan and Ambonese groups are considered to be a part of the Penose is because their criminal groups were formed and based in the Netherlands, whereas the Turkish or Serb gangs are part of a criminal group based in their home country.

Crips in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is the only country in Europe where the Crips have a significant presence. In the major cities of The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam Crip-gangs were formed in the 80's. There are a lot of Crip-gangs in the Netherlands but only 12 of them are regarded as a serious criminal organization. The 12 criminal gangs are mostly composed of older adolescent males ( in contrast to the majority of the street gangs which are composed of youths ) who are involved in organized crime such as drug trafficking, arms trafficking, prostitution, contract killing and extortion. The groups are mainly composed of Dutch Antilleans, Surinamese, Moluccans as well as some Moroccans and Dutch people.

Members of the Dutch Penose

• Klaas Bruinsma
• Willem Holleeder
• John Mieremet
• Cor van Hout