Jan 24, 2024 at 12:41 Update: 15 hours ago
How can such a successful footballer allow himself to be drawn so deeply into crime? That question from the Public Prosecution Service remained unanswered on Wednesday. Quincy Promes was absent from court, where justice demanded nine years in prison for him for involvement in drug trafficking.
According to the judiciary, reports clearly show that Promes was involved in the import of two shipments of cocaine at the beginning of 2020. This involved a total of more than 1,300 kilos of cocaine.
Due to his absence, Promes does not account for these suspicions, the public prosecutor emphasized.
“He cannot explain the cocaine transport of almost 1,400 kilos in which he was involved. He cannot explain the chats he had with his co-suspect (his cousin Marylio V., ed.), in which they have arranged cocaine. He also cannot explain all those other chats that you have read, about the criminal contacts with whom he appears to be dealing.”
In Promes’ absence, his lawyers Robert Malewicz and Sophie Hof announced at the start of the hearing that their client denies that he has been involved in drug trafficking. His absence has to do with his obligations as a footballer for Spartak Moscow.
Promes in the picture after tips from the Criminal Intelligence Team
The former Ajax player came into the attention of the investigative services after tips were received by the police’s Criminal Intelligence Team (TCI) in 2018. Promes is said to be involved in the cocaine trade and to have invested in a batch of drugs with which Piet Wortel is said to have earned millions. Wortel was previously convicted for cocaine trafficking and is in custody on suspicion of money laundering.
“The criminal intelligence about Promes places him in a criminal network with all kinds of men who are now behind bars themselves: Piet Wortel, Joey AK and Ocean S,” said the public prosecutor.
The police decided to follow Promes and placed listening equipment in his car. In intercepted conversations, Promes said that in addition to playing football, he was also involved in “trading”. According to the Public Prosecution Service, he was referring to drug trafficking.
Promes would have a Sky ECC telephone for this trade, which allows encrypted communication. He used the name ‘Fantasma’. At the beginning of 2020, this Fantasma talked a lot about the two batches of cocaine that are the subject of this lawsuit.
For example, Promes is said to have invested 75,000 euros in the cocaine shipments and is therefore partial owner of the drugs. Together with his cousin and co-suspect Marylio V., he also directed the people who had to remove the drugs from containers. Those containers arrived at the port of Antwerp at the beginning of 2020.
Promes’ cousin makes a partly confessional statement
V. admitted on Wednesday that he was in possession of a Sky phone, but he said that his role is much smaller than the Public Prosecution Service claims. He said he had only put two people in contact with the organization behind the drug importation. He did the boys “a favor by letting them earn some pocket money” as a striker, said V. Promes’ cousin called his actions macho behavior.
In his own words, he didn’t earn anything from it. In retrospect, V. understands that his behavior was stupid. The Public Prosecution Service demanded eight years in prison against him. Lawyer Johan Mühren believes that his client should be acquitted. According to the lawyer, V. “is dangling at the bottom of the criminal ladder and may well fall off”. Mühren says that V. may have done something criminal, but can at most be qualified as an accomplice. “And he will not be prosecuted for that,” Mühren concluded.
The Public Prosecution Service further blamed Promes for “the fact that the suspect normalizes and almost romanticizes the large-scale trade in cocaine.” The fifty-time international of the Dutch national team seems to feel untouchable in Russia and beyond, the justice department concluded. She is said to have made several attempts to arrest the footballer.
