Three Dutchmen face lengthy jail terms in Britain for smuggling up to €2.2bn worth of cocaine and heroin into the country using second-hand ambulances, British media reported on Saturday.
During the trial in Birmingham, the court was told how the group were equipped with bogus paramedics’ uniforms and even a fake patient on crutches.
One man, named as 55-year-old Leonardus Bijlsma, has been convicted of smuggling while a second, Richard Engelsbel, aged 51, had admitted driving an ambulance on 25 trips during the operation. A fourth man, aged 28, was found not guilty.
According to British prosecutors, 38-year-old Olof Schoon was the ‘central player’ who ran the fully taxed and insured ambulances run out of registered company offices in the Netherlands. He is said to have made 39 trips to Britain.
The ambulances ran for 14 months, from April last year, until they were caught near a scrapyard in Smethwick in the West Midlands in June.
At the same time, Dutch police carried out raids in Hoofddorp and Zwanenburg and found a further 10 ambulances in storage. They have been taken away for forensic investigation.
3 Dutchmen jailed smuggle 2.2 billion euro drugs in UK
Forum rules
Discuss anything about Western European street gangs and organized crime.
Discuss anything about Western European street gangs and organized crime.
-
DutchGangster69
- Middle Weight
- Posts: 917
- Joined: February 9th, 2009, 10:06 pm
- Country: Canada
- If in the United States: Arkansas
- What city do you live in now?: Toronto
-
DutchGangster69
- Middle Weight
- Posts: 917
- Joined: February 9th, 2009, 10:06 pm
- Country: Canada
- If in the United States: Arkansas
- What city do you live in now?: Toronto
Re: 3 Dutchmen jailed smuggle 2.2 billion euro drugs in UK
Two Dutchman arrested smuggling drugs to England by helicopter
Two men from Eindhoven have been arrested after attempting to smuggle drugs into England by helicopter, Dutch police said at the weekend.
The men were picked up by British police after bags stuffed with 40 kilos of cocaine and 60 kilos of heroin were thrown out of the helicopter in the English countryside, according to a Dutch police statement.
A 38-year-old English man from London was also arrested. According to British press reports, he and the drugs were in a car when the arrest was made.
The helicopter was found at the Redhill Aerodrome in nearby Surrey and impounded as part of the operation. The Dutchmen, aged 26 and 27, were also arrested.
Mirror
Dutch police raided the homes of the two men and found what they said was a ‘cocaine laboratory’ in one property, hidden behind a mirror in a small gym. A gun and €16,000 in cash were taken from the second house.
Last December, three Dutch nationals who used second-hand ambulances to smuggle drugs worth €2bn into Britain were jailed for up to 28 years by a court in Birmingham.
The gang were picked up in June after an investigation lasting several months. One ambulance was found to contain 270 kilos of cocaine, heroine and amphetamines with a street value of some €10m.
Two men from Eindhoven have been arrested after attempting to smuggle drugs into England by helicopter, Dutch police said at the weekend.
The men were picked up by British police after bags stuffed with 40 kilos of cocaine and 60 kilos of heroin were thrown out of the helicopter in the English countryside, according to a Dutch police statement.
A 38-year-old English man from London was also arrested. According to British press reports, he and the drugs were in a car when the arrest was made.
The helicopter was found at the Redhill Aerodrome in nearby Surrey and impounded as part of the operation. The Dutchmen, aged 26 and 27, were also arrested.
Mirror
Dutch police raided the homes of the two men and found what they said was a ‘cocaine laboratory’ in one property, hidden behind a mirror in a small gym. A gun and €16,000 in cash were taken from the second house.
Last December, three Dutch nationals who used second-hand ambulances to smuggle drugs worth €2bn into Britain were jailed for up to 28 years by a court in Birmingham.
The gang were picked up in June after an investigation lasting several months. One ambulance was found to contain 270 kilos of cocaine, heroine and amphetamines with a street value of some €10m.