Four men from The Hague heard prison sentences handed down against them on Thursday. Their leader Gerrit de G. was sentenced in absentia to eleven years in prison. In three years they had a turnover of 360 million euros in the drug trade.


Start
The court in The Hague has sentenced four men from The Hague to prison terms and community service for large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering.

The investigation started with hacking the PGP communications between the suspects. This showed that in an organizational context they were involved in large-scale trafficking in cocaine, preparations for the import of cocaine and money laundering by siphoning off the proceeds through gold trading.

Affairs
Gerrit de G. (55) was extensively involved in preparatory actions to import cocaine from South America via Spain and Belgium to the Netherlands. Together with others he traded the drugs in The Hague. This made large sums of cash available to the organization, according to the justice department, with which a gold trade was subsequently set up. (scrap) gold has been bought up on a large scale, melted down and transported and traded abroad.

Leader
The court ruled that G. worked with others in a criminal partnership, in which each member had his own task. Gerrit de G. is seen as the leader who was involved in strategic decisions. He was not present at the hearings because he is a fugitive and has been arrested internationally. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Shed
Johan de G. (29) melted purchased (demolition) gold into large gold bars in a shed at the camp. He also counted the enormous laundered amounts of money that were transported to the camp in 'big bags', the AD notes.

This second suspect was extensively involved in dealing with cash as proceeds from the sale of cocaine and in buying and melting gold. This gold was intended for abroad. This suspect, who has been in custody since June 2022, has been sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Guilty
The third suspect is also guilty of money laundering. Carlo de G. junior, in his twenties, is guilty of participating in the criminal organization and money laundering. He took money a number of times and also used cars and valuable furniture, even though he knew that these were all proceeds of crime. He was sentenced to three years in prison, of which 1 year was conditional. The court takes his young age into account.

Jan R. (74) transported sums of money between five thousand euros and 1.3 million euros in the secret compartment of his car. He also had stored weapons and ammunition in his caravan, which he inherited. According to the judge, he is also guilty of money laundering. He was not part of the criminal organization and is also elderly. He has already served his prison sentence.

Dizzying
The men conducted their business in a small caravan camp on the outskirts of The Hague, writes the AD. They earned staggering amounts of money from it. There is talk of a turnover of 360 million euros in just nine months. The family was involved in that trade for at least three years, the court stated.