That undercover agent conducted a risky investigation into alleged drug criminal Joop M. in Zevenbergschen Hoek. He is suspected of importing 1,300 kilos of cocaine through the port of Vlissingen. When the ground became too hot underfoot and the pressure too high, the undercover officer committed suicide in April last year.
In order to investigate whether the undercover operation went completely according to the rules, M.’s defense had asked to hear from the team leader of the police team Werken Onder Dekmantel, which includes undercover operations. That happened last week. Then it turned out that there had been not one, but two leaders in the year and a half that the action lasted in the Brabant village. Justice had only sent the last team leader for questioning. As a result, the defense was unable to gain insight into the first year of the action, when there was a different team leader, while the court wanted to know cases about that period. The public prosecutor: “The defense now pretends that the Public Prosecution Service deliberately misled the court, but that is not the case.”
The court in Breda had actually wanted to start the substantive handling of the case on Monday. That has now been postponed to Thursday. The other team leader will be heard on Monday afternoon.
The secret agent, who had been playing the jovial neighbor for a year and a half, committed suicide when he developed an intimate relationship with Joop M’s wife. An investigation into the undercover operation showed that the secret agent received too little support from his superiors.
Do you need help? Then contact the Suicide Help and Prevention Line. Talk about it. Tel: 0800-0113 (free), 113 (regular rate) or www.113.nl†