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The bulk of the Amsterdam drug distribution seems to be in the hands of the small (currently about 2,000), tightly knit Chinese community that the city has had since the early trading days of the 17th century. Unlike the Marseille Corsicans, the Amsterdam Chinese do no processing of raw opium into heroin. That is done in Singapore and Hong Kong, major markets for the opium produced in the Golden Triangle area in Laos, Burma and northern Thailand. Known as "brown sugar" because of its color and texture, this Asian heroin has a purity of only 50%, compared with the 96%-98% of the old Marseille product. Once processed, this crudely refined "sugar" is smuggled into Amsterdam in small amounts (usually no more than 2 lbs.) by Chinese "mules" (underworld slang for narcotics couriers). Often they are illegal residents of Amsterdam, who have been blackmailed into carrying drugs after they have run up heavy debts playing mah-jongg in the "Chinese Only" gambling dens of the city's Rosse Buurt (red-light district). Once the heroin arrives, it may be sold on the streets of Amsterdam for between $40 and $60 a gram. Much of it, however, is shipped to markets all over Europe, including the U.S. Seventh Army bases in West Germany. There are few obstacles to the intra-European smuggling, since border inspections have all but ceased within the Common Market.
Liberal Attitude. Dutch police have increased drug-related arrests, but they feel that they are fighting a losing battle, in part because of The Netherlands' liberal attitude toward personal freedoms of all sorts. Every Saturday, a state-run radio station broadcasts the current street prices of various hard and soft drugs, a service much appreciated by the 2,000 young people sleeping out in Vondelpark on any given summer night. Dutch cops assert that France began to get on top of its growing narcotics problem only when it started imposing 20-year jail terms on drug dealers. In The Netherlands the maximum term is four years, but judges usually hand down sentences of only a year or so. Laments Inspector Cor Elbersen, head of the Amsterdam narcotics squad: "The drug traffic came to Holland because the sentences are lighter. I'd like to see stiffer penalties, but I'm tied by the laws of this country."
Those laws may change. Amsterdam has a local population of some 5,000 heroin addicts, and they are creating increasing troubles. Petty crimes, shoplifting and muggings have been more frequent as addicts try to get money to support their habits. Reports of death from drug overdoses have become staple items in newspapers. The city is even beginning to have New York-style gang wars between rival dope pushers. The Rosse Buurt was recently jolted by a daylight gun battle between members of the local Yellow Mafia and a Surinamese heroin dealer. No one was injured, but police found packets of heroin on each of the three gunmen they managed to catch.