A 21-year-old man suspected of involvement in attacks linked to the extortion of fruit trade De Groot in Hedel has been released by the court for the time being. The former director of the fruit trade will also be heard about possible involvement in international drug trafficking.
That became apparent on Tuesday at a new non-substantive hearing against five suspects. After a consignment of 400 kilos of cocaine was found at De Groot Fresh Group in Hedel in 2019, the company was confronted with extortion. De Groot would have to put millions of euros on the table, otherwise attacks would follow. And they came: several houses of (former) employees were set on fire. One of the suspects in those attacks, 21-year-old Ben Nordin A., has been provisionally released by the court. He is given the space by the court to take care of his sick mother.
In addition, it became clear that the former director of the fruit company will shortly be heard by the investigating judge about his possible involvement in drug trafficking. Main suspect Ali G. has repeatedly stated that he is not responsible for the extortion, but that he is aware of drug trafficking in which De Groot is allegedly involved. The ‘godfather’ Piet S. from The Hague recently stated about this. He said he had been approached to mediate in a conflict involving a ‘disappeared party’ at De Groot.
According to lawyer Bénédicte Ficq of Ali G., several scenarios are possible, which would indicate that Ali G. is not involved. She cited a recent fire in a chicken shed in Hedel, which could be linked to the fruit company. And that while her client is staying in the EBI and can barely have contact with the outside world. How can he be linked to the ongoing violence, she wondered aloud. ,,It goes on and on, and that fact is exculpatory for my client. No line can be drawn between the criminal offenses that continue against the fruit company and my client.”
Criticism of undercover action
There was also criticism of the much-discussed undercover action that was launched by the judiciary. This news site revealed on Tuesday that two officers contradicted the responsible prosecutor about the course of events. It turned out that an observation team had indeed been present, but they did not draw up an official report. “Those reports should have been there long ago,” lawyer Anis Boumanjal said. He also stated that these observers may need further hearing. “We also want the substantive treatment to start quickly. But we’re three sittings down, and we still don’t have answers to our questions about this deployment.”
Ficq and Boumanjal also criticized the monitoring of the undercover deployment. Because although the judiciary said it was not possible to listen in on the operation, the interrogation with two officers involved showed that this was the case. It is a kind of safety line with which the action could be followed ‘in fragments’, according to the public prosecutor. ,,This was not suitable to get the content and nothing was recorded. There is no reason to doubt what has been said about this before.”
The court wants to start the substantive handling of the criminal case in February.
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