A Tilburg police officer who gave tips to the underworld. It rarely happens, but when it does happen it is a nightmare for the police. A ‘wrong choice’ can cause great damage to the investigation. Moreover, it puts a major dent in confidence. The case of the Tilburg police officer is reminiscent of the controversial police mole Mark M. who worked in Eindhoven.
A 61-year-old police officer in jail. Just like a 23-year-old woman. It was a striking message that the Public Prosecution Service recently distributed. No further comment on the crimes he allegedly committed. It soon turned out that it was local police officer Erwin. It is now clear that these are serious accusations against him.
The Public Prosecution Service reported on Tuesday that the police officer is suspected of ‘requesting confidential information from the police systems for a long period of time in return for payment and providing it for the benefit of various criminal organizations.’ In other words: there was a police mole in the Zeeland-West-Brabant unit who leaked information to criminals and also made money from it.
Rotten apple
With a strength of 3,300 men and women, one bad apple doesn’t seem like much. And the question is what damage a local police officer can do. Because a local police officer does not sit at the table during major subversion investigations into drug labs and mafia organizations.
But a local police officer does attend team briefings and receives stories from detectives at the coffee machine. Such a person is sometimes asked: ‘Did you know him?’ And the comment that a ‘blow day’ is coming at a dealer.
Cell phone
Even outside the home, on a bicycle, a local police officer can request all kinds of confidential information, such as license plates and addresses. Simply via a special app on the police mobile. Anyone with a cell phone in their pocket knows that the boundary between work and private life can easily become blurred.
Police leaders and unions have been warning about this for some time. Because, what do you do with a suspicious car on your street at night? Just check. Your daughter’s new friend? Just check. Are you selling your game console via the internet? Just vet the buyer. It’s all possible. But it’s not allowed.
Firework bomb
Forwarding confidential information to outsiders is strictly prohibited. What if the ‘customer’ uses that information to find an enemy and scare them with a fireworks bomb or to rob someone’s cannabis farm or even worse, to wait for someone and shoot someone?
It is clear that the Tilburg police officer did not just sell something secret to an acquaintance or junkie. The indictment states that he sold information to ‘various criminal organizations’. That’s usually another word for drug gangs.
Notorious police mole
A snippet of secret information can cause a hurricane in the underworld. This was evident in the controversial case involving Mark M. from Weert, which shook the police services to their foundations ten years ago.
M. worked at a police station in Eindhoven for the National Criminal Investigation Department. He tipped off all kinds of criminals for about four years. What was disastrous was that he was on top of larger investigations into drug gangs.
If the police asked something internally about a drug criminal or money launderer, this police mole would receive an email and he would warn the suspect: ‘they are lurking on you’. These criminals could then quietly go into hiding for a while. Something that, according to police and justice, has happened several times. M. had various subscriptions. For a fee. He requested information thousands of times.
Police action frustrated
Mark M. was sentenced to five years in prison for ‘shamelessly’ violating his official secrecy. “He frustrated police action with his actions. This allowed several criminals to escape,” the court ruled at the time. M. served his sentence and emigrated to Ukraine.
In the few comparable cases in our country, judges always imposed four or five years in prison for leaking secrets. And of course dismissal followed. That is what hangs over the heads of ‘wrong intentions’.
It all still has to be proven for local police officer Erwin. There are still many questions. What got into him? What was the role of the 23 year old female suspect? Is there damage? How did they track him down? But the fact that the court has already extended their pre-trial detention by three months is a sign that something serious is going on and that the evidence is very serious.
date:2026-02-11 06:53:00