Another 18 years behind Peruvian bars for Dutchman Joran van Der Sloot for drug smuggling

Peruvian prosecutors are demanding a prison sentence of 18 years and four months against Joran van der Sloot for drug smuggling, local media report on Friday. The Dutchman has been detained in the South American country for murder since 2010.

Peruvian media report that Van der Sloot is seen as the coordinator of drug smuggling to the prison in the southeast of Peru, where he is serving his prison sentence.

Van der Sloot, along with his girlfriend Eva Pacohuanaco and accomplices, is said to have smuggled nearly 300 grams of cocaine and 140 grams of marijuana into the prison in Juliaca.

Pacohuanaco brought Van der Sloot food in August, including nineteen red beets. The drugs turned out to be in those vegetables. Pacohuanaco says she was not aware of this, but prosecutors are also demanding 18 years in prison for her for drug trafficking.

The same sentence was demanded against three fellow prisoners of Van der Sloot. The prosecution demanded 14 years in prison for Pacohuanaco's brother for his role in the smuggling case.

Van der Sloot is serving a 28-year prison sentence in Peru for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramírez in 2010. He was convicted in 2012. The Dutchman was previously suspected of involvement in the disappearance of the American Natalee Holloway (18) in Aruba in 2005.

The accumulation of prison sentences is possible in Peruvian criminal law if the crimes committed were committed at different times by the same perpetrator. But the convict would have to be released after a maximum of 35 years if he has not received a life sentence.