The court in Arnhem on Friday acquitted 60-year-old Paul C. in an old heroin case: in 2014, 9.6 kilos of heroin were seized in Milton Keynes (England). Like others, he had previously been sentenced to prison by the court. The main suspect was convicted by the court for several transports of heroin and other drugs.
(image from archive)
Garden gnomes
In 2014, the Public Prosecution Service brought nine men from the world of truck transport to justice. The suspects from Hilversum, Nieuwegein, Utrecht, Woerden, Breda and Harlingen were charged with five transports.
This involved smaller transports in trucks to Scandinavia and England containing ecstasy pills, amphetamine, cocaine, hashish and heroin. The then 34-year-old PK from Hilversum was the main suspect and was convicted as the principal of four transports, and also for money laundering. The drugs were packed into the trucks in warehouses in Ermelo and Tiel.
Deck cargoes included bananas and garden gnomes.
Ferry
In November 2013, during a ferry crossing from Hirtshals (Denmark) to Larvik (Norway), 146.5 kilos of hashish and 9.5 kilos of amphetamine were found in a truck. A drug dog responded and the drugs were found in a hollow space near the underside of the truck combination.
The decisive factor was information about a drug transport intercepted in Norway in 2014. The arrested driver had opened up and made statements about those involved on the Dutch side. The national public prosecutor’s office then started a major investigation and linked several drug transports with trucks.
Brother
Paul C.’s brother was at the wheel of the truck that was caught with heroin in Milton Keynes on April 23, 2014.
Paul C. was convicted by the court, just like the brother, partly because the court assumed that C. knew that his brother was driving with drugs. Detectives found text messages about this on his phone.
Critical
Lawyer Van Stratum had argued on appeal that these types of fragments alone are not enough to convict C.. After initial silence, C. made an extensive statement before the court.
Van Stratum: ‘In my opinion, the court had ruled far too easily. The court often has counselors who are much more critical of the evidence.’
