A man from Halsteren delivered groceries and parts to cocaine labs across the country. His case gives a good insight into how criminal freelancers work with their crypto telephones, but also into how ramified underworld networks are. The ‘deal’ he made with justice in Breda was also special.
As in many other cases in recent years, this suspect was also caught by Encrochat. He arranged his illegal business with his crypto telephone. He thought he was unwatched. But the police broke into that telephone network and intercepted millions of messages, including from him.
For example, the police noticed that the man (38) from Halsteren supplied cocaine laundries in Lepelstraat, Poortvliet and Berkel en Rodenrijs with food, drinks and equipment. In those labs, coke was squeezed out of cardboard boxes.
‘deal’
Detectives also saw traces of coke labs in Heeswijk-Dinther (2019) and Putten (2020). Three other labs are said to be linked to him. All this is good for a sentence of 5.5 years, that was the idea of the public prosecutor in Breda.
But hard evidence for all eight labs was lacking. The prosecutor and lawyer started talking. What if we come out together, was the idea. A ‘deal’ was in sight. This is increasingly happening in processes that take a lot of time. A ‘deal’ saves time and provides clarity quickly.
What made it easier for everyone was that the suspect made incriminating statements about himself. He also waived investigative questions and appeal. The requirement would be four years in prison.
Warning
The Breda court warned: this has been mutually agreed, so we do not have to stick to it. Very symbolically, an agreement was reached outside the courtroom. On a visitor’s table, in the corridor of the Breda court. Officer, lawyer and suspect signed for it – also with the same pen, because they only had one.
On Friday, the judges ruled that his cooperative attitude led to time savings, because the judiciary is under pressure. Therefore not six years in prison, as the guidelines stipulated, but four years in prison. “Good luck,” said the court chairman to the man from Halsteren, who had to go to prison immediately.
Landlords
Then the others followed. The lessor of a shed (67) in Putten was given 240 hours of community service and 6 months of probation.
A man (36) from Steenbergen who had contact with the man from Halsteren was released due to lack of evidence. The owner (69) of a shed in Poortvliet in Zeeland was also acquitted. Just like the landlord (61) of the shed in Berkel en Rodenrijs.
Sweets
In this case, the police had discovered Encrochat contacts between the man from Halsteren and a group of criminal freelancers who smuggled drugs in a shipment of candy. 54 kilos of coke were packed in Breda and had to go to Milan. But the police intercepted the transport. A man from Halsteren and a man from Etten-Leur have already received prison sentences of five and four years. The court also sentenced a man (56) from Sprang Capelle to five years in prison.
This research has some open ends. For example, there is still a lawsuit about a man who is said to have run a coke lab in Sint Willebrord (2019).
The Dutch police hardly publish images of coke laundries, not even of Lepelstraat. The Spanish police do publish videos about similar labs. That’s what it looks like.