The Dutch public prosecution department met all its government targets last year, despite a drop in the registered crime rate, according to its annual report, published on Monday.

At the same time, the department has reached the limits of what it can achieve with its resources, the department’s chief Herman Bolhaar said.

Years of cuts, which will mean a 25% reduction in the budget by 2018, have left the department ‘on the edge’ and unable to improve its performance any further, Bolhaar is quoted as saying by the NRC.

Nationwide, 1,130 criminal gangs were rounded up, most of which were involved in human trafficking, the production of synthetic drugs and money laundering. That is a rise of 113% on five years ago, the department said.

Charges

In total, the department handled 218,000 criminal investigations, a slight rise on 2013. Of them, 103,000 cases were closed without a court appearance and in 20% of cases, the charges were dropped. This is also above the official target, the report said.

The department confiscated cash and goods to the value of €136m from convicted criminals last year, the ministry said.

The total also includes ‘incidental items’ such as the out-of-court settlement reached between the ministry and SBM Offshore on bribery charges, the statement said.

In addition, the Netherlands was confronted with ‘an increased threat from radicalisation and terrorism,’ the report said. In 2014, police carried out 54 investigations into terrorism involving 90 suspects.