Thursday, 1 October 2015 - 07:55
Dutch men used ambulance to smuggle £38 million cocaine into England says prosecutor
Four Dutch men have been arrested in Birmingham for smuggling around 38 million worth of class A drugs from the Netherlands to the England using a Dutch ambulance. The four accussed, Leonardus Bijlsma (55), Richard Engelsbel (51), Olof Schoon (38) and Dennis Vogelaar (28) have all been charged with three counts of importing about 270 kilos of class A drugs, including cocaine, heroin and ecstasy.
Two of the men have been accused of driving the ambulance while the others have been accused of meeting the ambulance at Smethwick, England on June 16.
The company, International Ambulance Team BV, was opened in August 2014 with registration papers naming only one owner, Olof Schoon. Schoon has in the past been exposed for fraud in the construction industry, but has never been convicted.
Ad.nl reported that research had revealed that the ambulance had never transported a legitimate patient and that it had never been attached to a rescue region.
Investigators reportedly laughed at the audaciousness of the crime upon discovering the drugs in the ambulance.
Two British men who were already on the British police's drug radar, were arrested alongside the Dutch men when they went to meet the ambulance. No pleas have been entered at this stage and all the men will appear before the Birmingham Crown Court on October 2nd.