‘The stuff is not there. They seem to have taken it away,’ said a 31-year-old from Landsmeer on June 26, 2024, via phone to an unknown suspect. Panic ensued when he and his co-defendants discovered that no drugs were present in a shipment of dresses that had just been delivered to a warehouse in Zaandam. The 31-year-old man appeared today with three co-defendants for the intended import of over 340 kilos of heroin and possession thereof. The Public Prosecution Service demanded prison sentences of up to five and a half years against them.
The drugs had already been removed in Rotterdam. In June 2024, customs found about 250 boxes of dresses containing heroin during a routine inspection of a container ship from Dubai. It involved 6820 packets of 50 grams of heroin each, totaling 341 kilograms.
Since the container was intended for a company in the Western Port Area in Amsterdam, the HARC team, a collaboration of Customs, FIOD, police, and the Public Prosecution Service, decided to organize a controlled delivery of the container. The drugs were removed, and a camera and listening equipment were placed in the container.
Wiretapped conversations
The shipment was ultimately delivered on June 26, 2024, at a warehouse in Zaandam where the four suspects were present. There are not many relevant images from that warehouse. However, audio was recorded.
The public prosecutor:
The communication is, in general, extremely incriminating.. Everything points to knowledge and involvement of the collective.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the wiretapped conversations provide evidence that all four suspects were involved in the intended import of over 340 kilos of heroin.
Supervision and control
The Public Prosecution Service considers the role of the 31-year-old man from Landsmeer as decisive and leading. He was responsible for renting the warehouse, contacting the transport company, and unloading the cargo together with a 29-year-old co-defendant from Amsterdam. The latter paid the driver and helped remove the drugs from the truck.
A 44-year-old suspect from Turkey supervised the delivery and checked whether the drugs were still present. His involvement is further clarified by incriminating messages on his seized phone, according to the Public Prosecution Service. They see his role as coordinating and very important in the whole.
Fled the scene
A 34-year-old man from Zaandam acted, according to the Public Prosecution Service, as the personal assistant of the 44-year-old suspect. He would have been involved in the flight after the discovery of the disappearance of the drugs. Together with the 44-year-old man, he fled at high speed, committing various traffic violations, including ignoring red traffic lights and exceeding the speed limit. Furthermore, the 31-year-old suspect from Landsmeer arranged the warehouse in Zaandam through him.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, there has been close and deliberate cooperation between the four suspects, thus constituting complicity in the intended import of over 340 kilos of heroin and possession thereof.
The courts ruling will follow in two weeks.