Voorburger Piet S. (64), according to the Public Prosecution Service, led a worldwide organization that traded in cocaine on a large scale. The OM said during a first introductory session in the court in The Hague on Friday that it saw S. as a “final boss”. That writes Broadcaster West.
Criminal veteran
S. was born in September arrested during a major international investigation, in which a total of eighteen suspects were arrested. This happened after the cracking of communication service Encrochat. S. is seen as the “Hague Godfather”. He appeared in several drug investigations and was imprisoned for years for an ecstasy case after the turn of the century. In the 1990s, S. was a suspect in a major investigation into drug trafficking by criminals Sam Klepper and John Mieremet, but none of the three went to court.
Spanish ports
At the end of 2016, the judiciary started the investigation “Taxus” into the veteran in the criminal environment. S. is seen by the Public Prosecution Service as the leader of a large international network that deals with cocaine trafficking via Spanish ports from South America. According to the judiciary, there is a fixed disciplined core around S., which made him difficult to investigate.
Although the Voorburger had no legal income, he drove expensive cars and made luxury trips to Dubai and South America. He also spent part of the year in Spain, where an investigation into him and his organization was ongoing from 2018. According to the judiciary, that network also included his son Freddy S. and a great-nephew.
Raids
The joint investigation by the Dutch and Spanish judiciary collapsed on September 16 when dozens of locations in the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Hungary and Slovakia were raided. Eighteen suspects were arrested. In addition to drugs, firearms and cash, dozens of cars were also seized.
Twelve suspects are on trial on Friday, two others have since been released. Because the investigation into the cracked Encrochat messages is still ongoing, the OM does not rule out new arrests.
Besides drug trafficking, Piet S. is also suspected of money laundering, corruption, threats and leading a criminal organization. The next hearing in the case is on March 15, 2021.
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