Former top footballers linked to major Dutch drug case

Professional football players Dirk Kuijt and Wesley Sneijder have been questioned by the police due to suspicion they frequented the illegal gambling site, Edobet, tied to drug baron Piet S., the AD reported. Their questioning is part of a more extensive investigation into the criminal network of Piet S.

The son of Piet S., Freddy S., created the gambling site, Edobet. Sneijder and Kuijt allegedly were regulars on the site, playing with large sums of money. "Dirk Kuijt sometimes plays with 25 grand (25,000 euros) per day," police overheard during investigations.

Kuijt confessed he used to frequent the site towards the end of his professional football career. "I often left credit on the site, but sometimes I also had it paid out." Kuijt described how he would meet someone at a gas station to receive the cash.

"The period where I gambled on Edobet is long behind me and I would rather not like to be reminded of that time," Kuijt said, according to the AD.

Sneijder allegedly had gambling debts which led criminals to threaten his family. "We will no longer demand money, first we'll send someone to the hospital. It could also be a woman, as long it is one of the family. His mother, aunt, grandmother, I don't care who," a threat message to Sneijder read.

Sneijder stated he had received threats, but these intimidation attempts did not have to do with the gambling site. The former football player said that after it turned out that he had nothing to do with the debts, the criminals left him alone, "They apologized ten times and then, they left. I never heard from them again."

Piet S. from The Hague has been suspected to be an international, high-level drug trafficker. Police arrested S. in September 2020 for involvement in crimes, including money laundering, corruption and street-level assassinations.