A 39-year-old man from Eindhoven is unconditionally imprisoned for four months for transporting hard drugs in his car and for money laundering. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) demanded this in the court of Assen today.
At the beginning of last year, the police received a report about a green Opel Corsa with a striking rim on one wheel. This car would have been seen during a previous robbery in Hoogeveen. The police had been on the lookout for the suspect for some time and quickly traced the car through the tip.
His car was immediately searched because of his previous drug convictions. About 150 grams of heroin, MDMA and metamphetamine (cristal meth) emerged from the trunk. The Eindhoven resident told the officers that the drugs were his. “For his own use,” he’d said.
But the man’s car played another striking role: the vehicle was directly associated with two burglaries in Hoogeveen in January last year. Fishing rod reels were stolen in a break-in at a seed trade. That happened around midnight. The case was turned upside down. Glass of a door was also smashed.
A day later it was the turn of a newsagent. The burglars also left a lot of havoc with this burglary. They took smoking and scratch cards with them. The stolen scratch cards were handed in early in the morning the day after the burglary at a supermarket in Assen. At that time, the Green Corsa with a striking rim was again in the parking lot, according to camera images.
The serial numbers on the stolen lottery tickets corresponded to the shops where the lottery tickets are sold in rolls. It soon became apparent that this case involved the stolen scratch cards from the kiosk. Camera images from the kiosk showed that two people were in the business during this burglary. But the images did not yield very clear descriptions.
The Eindhoven resident had ‘lent’ his car on the days of the break-ins and also when handing in the scratch cards. He would have had nothing to do with the break-ins, he had previously stated at the station. The stolen scratch cards were found with the man.
Despite her doubts about the burglary role of the Eindhoven resident, the public prosecutor found insufficient evidence of involvement in the burglaries. “I can get his car to that spot, but not the suspect,” she said.
When in doubt, acquittal must follow, and that is what the officer asked for those two facts. She did find money laundering and the possession and transport of hard drugs proven. She thought an unconditional prison sentence of four months was appropriate, because he has been convicted of drug offences before.
Verdict in two weeks.