Police protection squad officer arrested for leaking info to criminal gang

Photo: Peter van der Sluijs via Wikimedia Commons

An experienced policeman whose unit is responsible for security for the royal family and anti-Islam politican Geert Wilders has been arrested on suspicion of leaking action to criminal gangs.

The policeman, who is of Moroccan origin, is said to have leaked information to a Dutch Moroccan gang involved in trading in stolen goods and money laundering, the NRC said on Wednesday.

The man, who worked for the police protection squad DBB, was charged with making risk analyses of places which people with police bodyguards were set to visit. This gave him access to ‘highly confidential’ databases, the paper said.

The man was arrested on Monday.

A senior police spokesman said there is no ‘concrete evidence as yet’ that any extra security measures need to be taken as a result of the leaks. ‘The colleague who has been arrested was not part of the inner circle,’ he said.

The case is now being investigated to find out exactly what information the officer had accessed and how he became involved with the gang. The case came to light after police discovered a suspect they were investigating at the time had access to confidential information. The trail led back to the DBB officer.

Geert Wilders said in a reaction that if he is unable to completely trust the DBB he is not able to function. ‘This is unacceptable,’ he said on Twitter.

Diversity

The NRC said the arrest is an enormous blow to police efforts to encourage greater diversity. Last June another police officer of Moroccan origin was arrested on corruption charges after tipping off a family member about marijuana plantation raids.

The biggest case, however, is in Limburg, where police officer Mark M is suspected of selling information about around 100 criminal investigations to the underworld.

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