The Public Prosecution Service demanded a nine-year prison sentence in the court in Zwolle on Monday against 50-year-old KC from Hengelo, who is suspected of leading a criminal organization that smuggled cocaine on a large scale from Curaçao to the eastern Netherlands. Five other suspects were sentenced to prison terms of between three and eight years.
Silvolde
The large-scale cocaine smuggling used sea containers that arrived from the port of Curaçao via Vlissingen to a company in Silvolde, which served as a cover. The modus operandi was devised in the spring of 2020 and, according to the Public Prosecution Service, the 50-year-old main suspect from Hengelo was involved from the start in arranging and preparing the smuggling and trade.
Lime sandstone
A first container was embarked in the port of Curaçao in December 2020. This was picked up three weeks later from Vlissingen and delivered to the company in Silvolde. The container contained packages of cocaine packed between sand-lime bricks.
Four cocaine shipments
In total, this concerns four cocaine transports from Curaçao that the East Netherlands Public Prosecution Service links to this organization. The 50-year-old KC, together with a 56-year-old man from Delft (who heard a sentence of eight years in prison last Tuesday), had a directing and managerial role behind the scenes. According to the judiciary, hundreds of kilos of cocaine were imported. After delivery, the drugs were sorted and transported to Enschede or Hengelo, intended for the sales market.
Seven suspects
In the criminal case before the court in Zwolle, seven suspects are on trial for their varying roles within this criminal organization. Several suspects have Turkish roots. They were arrested in the summer of 2022 at various locations in the Netherlands but also Germany.
Decrypted chats
Decrypted crypto communications, among other things, revealed the mutual division of roles. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the co-suspects appear to be accountable to the 50-year-old Hengeloer at various times. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the file also shows that the suspect, who was arrested at the end of June 2022 and has been in custody since then, was looking for more front companies (a metal company and a fruit company) and even for a shipping company with ships and ship personnel.
Penalties
In addition to international drug trafficking, the 50-year-old main suspect was also guilty of mortgage fraud in 2017, according to the Public Prosecution Service. He obtained a mortgage loan of 216,000 euros through forgery. The public prosecutor took this fact into account in the sentence today. The Public Prosecution Service is demanding nine years in prison against him.
Another suspect, 51-year-old S.Ö. who also appeared in court in Zwolle on Monday, is seen by the Public Prosecution Service as the executor: he removed the cocaine from the containers at the company in Silvolde and transported it to Hengelo. The Public Prosecution Service is demanding a three-year prison sentence against him.
Elderly
Last week, four co-suspects were sentenced to five, seven (2x) and eight years in prison. The oldest suspect is a 76-year-old man from the Achterhoek village of Megchelen. A final suspect will be discussed on Tuesday. It concerns a 21-year-old man from Hengelo. That case is being handled behind closed doors.
