cocaine coffins |
‘Undertaker’ facing six year prison sentence
Photo from Dutch Public Prosecution Service
Photo from Dutch Public Prosecution Service
Eamon Dillon
Today at 12:40
DUTCH prosecutors are seeking a six-year sentence for a bogus undertaker caught with two cocaine filled coffins.
The 30-year-old French man dressed in a black suit and tie claimed to be bringing two bodies from Spain to the Netherlands when stopped driving a hearse.
Police instead found 230 kilos of cocaine worth over €17 million packed into bags in the coffins.
The man was arrested on December 13, 2024 on a motorway just south of Rotterdam, according to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service.
“After some unusual driving behavior, the police decided to pull the man off the road to ask him a few questions and check his papers.”
“The suspect then showed French contracts and forms that allegedly showed that he was allowed to transport corpses.”
But suspicious officers found the names of the deceased did not appear on Dutch registers and the address of the funeral home as a perfumery on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Photo from Dutch Public Prosecution Service
Photo from Dutch Public Prosecution Service
The police decided to confiscate the coffins and take them to a funeral home where they found nine sports bags filled with cocaine.
The accused man told the authorities he had to do this job on assignment to pay off a debt, according to the Public Prosecution Service.
“This is a case of import, a serious criminal offence, and the suspect also used forged documents.”
“This plan was set up so carefully, extremely systematic, cunning and undermining. It abuses respect for the deceased, something that the Public Prosecution Service considers to be an aggravating factor.”
“The suspect did everything he could to mislead the police, but thanks to the thorough and decisive work of the police, we are here in the courtroom today,” according to the Public Prosecutor.