The court has convicted four men for importing 1,122 kilos of cocaine through the port of Amsterdam. The prison sentences range from 4 years for the truck driver to 8 years for the two organizers. The coke was hidden in bags of cocoa beans, but before the container could leave the Western Port Area by road in July last year, the cargo was intercepted.
The sentences are lower than the Public Prosecution Service demanded in mid-September. The alleged organizers Kevin K. and Iwan Z. were sentenced to ten years in prison. According to the judiciary, Aris S. was the linchpin in the logistics web as a corrupt port employee, and he was sentenced to nine years in prison. According to the judiciary, the truck driver was involved in the import of the cargo and, according to the Public Prosecution Service, should spend six years in prison.
Cocaine between cocoa beans
The shipment of cocaine was intercepted in the Western Port Area in mid-July 2022. The cargo was hidden in a container from Ecuador in South America and is said to have arrived in the Netherlands via Colombia.
During the substantive hearing of the case, all four men denied involvement in the importation of the cocaine shipment. Aris S., the alleged logistical mastermind behind the operation, stated that he has never been corrupt and certainly has not cooperated in the import of hard drugs. “I just did my job as a port employee, I did everything I could to serve the drivers as quickly as possible.”
‘”I didn’t know there would already be cocaine in this container”
The two alleged organizers of the transport, Kevin K. and Iwan Z., also deny involvement in the cargo. However, colleagues who work at a logistics company in Amsterdam did say something striking. Iwan Z. is said to have been busy setting up a line and has already received several test shipments. “But I didn’t know that this container would already contain cocaine,” he previously stated. Kevin K. added: “We wanted to import something later, but were stunned by the fact that it already contained cocaine.”
The suspects and the Public Prosecution Service have two weeks to appeal.
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