The former owner of Van Wanrooy Transport risks 14 years in prison for importing 10,000 kilos of cocaine. His secretary faces 12 years in prison.
Paul van W. was arrested in 2018 after Dutch police tracked from the air one of the cargoes, which was shipped from Colombia to the port of Antwerp. Earlier, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had caught sight of the transport company because the drug enforcement agency found it suspicious that Van W. was visiting ports in the Mediterranean to store fruit from South America.
During the tracking operation in the Netherlands, 3,500 kilos of cocaine were intercepted. The police let part of the cargo through in order to confirm where it was unloaded. From there, Van W., his secretary and two other suspects were arrested.
Fourteen years in prison have now been demanded against Van W. The court expects to rule on the case before Christmas.
Van Wanrooy in the hands of FreightNed
A few months after the arrest of Paul van W., FreightNed announced the takeover of Van Wanrooy Transport. The staff, equipment and storage of Van Wanrooy Transport have since fallen under FreightNed. The latter thus became a major player in the industry at a stroke and collective redundancies at Van Wanrooy could be avoided.
