THE HAGUE, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Dutch public prosecutor on Wednesday demanded nine years imprisonment against the Dutch professional soccer player Quincy Promes for involvement in large-scale smuggling of cocaine through the port of Antwerp.
The 32-year-old former Ajax and Sevilla player, who currently plays for Spartak Moscow in Russia, was not present at the trial in the court in Amsterdam. The public prosecution service tried to get him to the Netherlands, but he refused, probably out of fear of being arrested.
According to the public prosecutor, Promes had a "directing role" in the smuggling of two shipments of cocaine that entered the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2020. This concerned a total of 1,360 kilos of cocaine that was transported from Brazil.
According to his lawyer, Promes denies any involvement in the drugs case. The date of the verdict in court is not yet known.
It is not the first court case for the 50-time international, who played his last matches for the Netherlands at the European Championship in 2021.
Last June, Promes was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for stabbing his cousin at a family party. The court in Amsterdam ruled that he was guilty of serious assault. Promes appealed against that verdict.
In the drugs case, the police received information in 2018 that the footballer had invested money in cocaine trade. Investigation revealed that he was involved in the smuggling of two shipments of cocaine that were in five containers in the port of Antwerp.
According to the prosecutor Promes had contacts with major drug traffickers. The prosecutor wondered how it was possible that "such a successful footballer allowed himself to be drawn so deeply into crime" and that it was "particularly bad that the suspect normalized and almost romanticized the cocaine trade." ■