After a tip from Belgian customs, the FIOD found no fewer than 31.5 million illegal cigarettes in a warehouse on the Hazeldonk industrial estate near Breda. Illegal because no excise duty had been paid on those cigarettes, meaning the Dutch state lost out on 7.5 million euros. According to the judiciary, Erdal D. (61) from Breda is behind this enormous trade. But in the court in Den Bosch D. claimed that he ‘knew nothing’.
Erdal D.’s explanation became a bit monotonous and predictable. Through his Turkish interpreter, D., who has lived in the Netherlands for 45 years, said that he worked for a Bulgarian named Bubba. On November 2, 2022, he only let in some containers and picked up some men who came to unload boxes. He received 1,000 euros for that.
Erdal D. didn’t know what was in those 3,000 boxes, he kept repeating. He thought it might be clothes or shoes.
Evidence
In return, the public prosecutor presented a mountain of evidence. According to the officer, Erdal was the man who arranged everything and was therefore responsible for the cigarettes. He rented the warehouse at Hazeldonk and paid 39,000 euros in cash in fifty notes to rent the warehouse for six months. He received the keys from the landlord and opened the door for the containers that came from England via Belgium. He also picked up men and let them in.
In the warehouse, the 3,000 boxes of different brands of cigarettes were removed from the container and placed on pallets wrapped in white plastic. Hours after the FIOD raid, there was still a strong smell of tobacco in the hall, so the officer did not believe Erdal D.’s story that he had smelled anything.
The judiciary cannot find any trace of the Bulgarian Bubba, who would be the big boss according to Erdal D.. And the landlord never saw him either.
And so justice holds Erdal D. responsible for the trade in 31.5 million illegal cigarettes and therefore the evasion of 7.5 million euros in taxes. The officer demanded 2.5 years in prison.
Second time
Moreover, it is not the first time that D. has been caught in cigarette trafficking. In 2021 he was caught with 6.5 million cigarettes. He got 20 months in prison for that. The appeal in that case is still pending.
Even then he said he knew nothing. “But then you pay extra attention when you are asked to do some manual work in a warehouse for a thousand euros,” the officer marveled. “A year before you were already in jail for a few days for that. Then you’re not going to do this, are you?”
But Erdal D. did it. At least, he was seen near and in the warehouse during observations for two days. And according to the judiciary, all his actions show that he controlled everything and tried to conceal this by including a different name in the contract.
Erdal D. stuck to his story that he knew nothing. According to him, others took advantage of him. The man is currently incapacitated due to various diseases and according to his lawyer he is not in the autumn, but in the winter of his life. But whether the court will take this into account will become clear on June 23. Then the verdict.
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