Suspects sentenced to up to 3 years in jail for abducting wrong man in Cruquius

The court in Haarlem handed down sentences ranging from one year to three years on Friday in the case of a brutal 'mistaken identity' kidnapping in Cruquius, Noord-Holland. The case revolves around the violent abduction of a then 56-year-old man from Hoofddorp. The suspects kidnapped the man, threatened him, and held him hostage for six days. It turned out he was not their intended target.

The Public Prosecution Service demanded unconditional prison sentences of 5.5 years against seven men and 7 years against the eighth. He is also suspected of extorting and threatening another suspect.

The abduction happened at 6:00 p.m. on 5 August 2021 on Spaarneweg in Cruquius, Noord-Holland. The victim was cornered by stolen cars near the shopping area. Under the threat of a firearm, he was physically forced into a van. He was taped up, and both kicked and beaten. His kidnappers aggressively claimed he had stolen cocaine, but they had made a mistake in their target, and the man was not the suspect they had been looking for.

The man was initially held in a storage unit in Gouda, where near Vogelplein, six suspects were arrested the same evening after they had swapped license plates. The victim was then transferred to a warehouse on Staalweg in Delft. Eventually, on August 11, just after midnight, he was released from a car in a residential area Delft, with a vest tied over his head and duct tape around his mouth.

The court criticized the suspects for apparently trying to resolve a drug dispute through kidnapping. "This in itself is highly reprehensible, but the fact that they involved a completely innocent victim makes it even worse," the court said. "The kidnapping also had significant consequences for the victim's loved ones. They lived in uncertainty and fear for several days, concerned about his well-being and return."

Following the kidnapping, a series of violent incidents occurred in Alblasserdam, Zwijndrecht, and Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht. In the vicinity of the actual intended target, Alex R., there were explosions, and a house was shot at. The fugitive Mohand G. (44) from Brussels was found guilty by the court for this attempted extortion and threat. He has been sentenced to twelve months in prison but was acquitted of the kidnapping due to insufficient evidence.

Four suspects were sentenced to three years in prison, and two will serve three years, of which one year is conditional. Two suspects received partly conditional prison terms of 24 months because they played a smaller role in the kidnapping. One suspect was acquitted.