In this article, we aim to further our understanding of the social embeddedness of organized crime by exploring the (possible) ways the social environment adds to the shielding of organized crime or criminal activities by organized crime groups. We argue that the metaphor of ‘walls of silence’ provides a fruitful way to examine the shielding of organized crime. Based on a theoretical and empirical exploration of 30 cases from the fifth data sweep of Dutch Organized Crime Monitor, we illustrate how organized crime offenders in the Netherlands depend on the silence and secrecy of co-offenders, victims, bystanders, and others who are aware of their (criminal) activities. Furthermore, we present a framework of the shielding of organized crime activities to provide insight into how offenders not only make use of the social environment to shield their activities, but also how the social environment can (purposely) act as walls of silence and secrecy.

在本文中，我们旨在通过探索社会环境增加有组织犯罪或有组织犯罪集团的犯罪活动的（可能）方式来进一步理解有组织犯罪的社会嵌入性。我们认为，“沉默之墙”的隐喻为检验有组织犯罪的屏蔽提供了一种富有成效的方式。基于对荷兰有组织犯罪监测第五次数据扫描中的 30 个案例的理论和实证探索，我们说明了荷兰的有组织犯罪罪犯如何依赖于共犯、受害者、旁观者和其他知情者的沉默和保密他们的（犯罪）活动。此外，