OM demands jail against 18-year-old in fruit company extortion case
On Monday, the Public Prosecution Service demanded four years in prison, of which one year was suspended, against an 18-year-old suspect for his role in the criminal terror campaign against fruit company De Groot Fresh Group in Hedel.
If it is up to the public prosecutor, the suspect from Hilversum, who was 17 years old when he allegedly committed the offenses, must be tried according to adult criminal law. The facts are serious, according to the Public Prosecution Service, which says that it takes into account “the young age of the suspect and his reduced responsibility” in the sentence.
According to the justice system, the Hilversummer threw mortar bombs at homes of former employees of the fruit company in Kerkdriel and Hedel in November 2020 and would have prepared a similar attack at a home in Hilversum. He would have done this together with two co-defendants, aged 20 and 21, who are on trial on Tuesday. A farmhouse in Hedel burned down completely during the attacks.
Cocaine
The fruit company has been extorted and threatened since 2019. The reason would have been the discovery of a batch of cocaine at the company, in one of the fruit transports, which was reported to the police. The Public Prosecution Service suspects a 37-year-old man that he subsequently extorted the management of the company and thereby threatened attacks on employees and family members of the management.
26 people have been arrested in connection with the events. The most recent arrests took place on Wednesday. The police arrested four men from Rotterdam on suspicion of involvement in one of the attacks.
Last week, in the extortion case against a 22-year-old man, four years in prison, of which two years were suspended. The trial of the main suspect will take place at the end of June.