CLIC is an international professional association. It was founded in 1989 to exchange knowledge and experience on the detection and investigation of clandestine drug laboratories. “Around 800 members from the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Asia and Europe share knowledge on the latest forensic methods in drug research and are active in a range of professional work groups”, says Van den Berg. Every year, during the week of the American public holiday Labor Day, CLIC organises a workshop and a Technical Training Seminar with lectures, presentations and informal sessions. Registration is open to anyone who is professionally involved in investigating clandestine drug laboratories, and participants include forensic chemists, researchers and safety professionals. CLIC also publishes a professional journal featuring articles that have been peer-reviewed by other experts. It also has a closed forum, where members can ask technical questions and share working methods with each other.

The executive committee traditionally consists of a vice president, a president and a former president, assisted by a secretary, a treasurer and two members-at-large.

Van den Berg describes CLIC as ‘a great group of people’, who have given him a warm welcome since he became a member in 2006: “My fellow drug expert Janneke Hulshof and I have been members for several years. The other members find that the examples we share about the Netherlands are very educational. Large quantities of synthetic drugs have been produced in the Netherlands for a very long time. In many countries, synthetic drug laboratories are a rare occurrence, but the Netherlands has a wealth of experience in this regard. This means that they can learn a great deal from us.” 

Another topic that CLIC has worked on for years is the problem of cocaine smuggling. “We talk to each other about general developments, but also about things like new synthesis routes and mobile techniques for detecting drugs on site.”

Having enjoyed a positive relationship with the other CLIC members for the past twenty years, Van den Berg felt it was now time to give back to the organisation. After serving as a board member for a year, he became president of CLIC in October 2025. In addition to chairing meetings and organising the 2026 seminar in Atlanta, Van den Berg has yet another goal in mind. During his presidency, he hopes to make major advances in the area of archiving. “We have never really built a clear system to archive the knowledge that we share. We are now trying to gather all of the materials, such as road maps, procedures, and templates that we have acquired from different people, in one place. This means that this data and knowledge will be readily available to members who come after us in the future.”

Will CLIC be coming to the Netherlands? Van den Berg hopes that this will become a reality some day: “Several CLIC members have already attended training sessions in the Netherlands, at a fantastic training location belonging to the police. They were extremely enthusiastic and thought that we really should hold a seminar in the Netherlands someday.” In view of the size of the membership and the location of many of our members (many are based in North America and Canada), this would involve a great deal of time and effort. For now, CLIC is focusing on Atlanta (2026), Kansas City (2027), and Virginia Beach (2028).