Refugee ‘coke rice farmer’ gets 16 years | Inland

In early 2018, an airplane with 488 kilos of cocaine was found on the rice fields of Ramchender ‘Radj’ O. in Saramacca. A cocaine submarine was also discovered near his fields. Police and judiciary suspected that O.’s rice paddies were used for the transit of cocaine from other South American countries.

Spectacular pursuit

A spectacular chase preceded the catch. On March 13, the Cessna landed with the batch of coke on a runway of O. The Joint Task Force (JTF), consisting of the security service, ordinary police and military police, knew of the arrival of the plane. Two police helicopters chased the Cessna and were shot at. After the police fired a few shots, the plane landed on the runway of O.

Seven people were arrested. Shortly afterwards Radj O. suddenly appeared without a trace. He turned up in the Netherlands, where he was arrested. He challenged his extradition with his lawyer Nico Meijering because he was said to have health problems, but the judge decided that he would simply go to Suriname. It is still unclear when that will happen.

Radj O. has now been convicted in absentia only for the import and transit of cocaine and not for involvement in the cocaine submarine. The pilots were sentenced to 14 years in prison. The investigation into the ‘narcosub’ was a flop. For example, no further investigation could be done into the boat because it sank to the bottom of a lake some time after its discovery.

Suriname’s role

Suriname plays an important role in the transit of cocaine to Europe and the Netherlands and Belgium in particular. Dozens of tons have been intercepted in recent years. In April, for example, a consignment of over 4000 kilos of coke from Suriname was seized in Antwerp. A year before, customs picked up a 3,000 kilo batch hidden in a container of rice. Dutch criminals play an important role in smuggling.

In Suriname, much is expected of the new president Chan Santokhi in tackling organized crime. For example, the police and the judiciary in the Netherlands hope for cooperation from the country in the hunt for a Surinamese-Dutch man who was previously convicted in the Netherlands for large-scale coke smuggling. He would smuggle large batches to Europe again.

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