Two Romanians who transported 125 kilograms of hemp to Geleen in early June were released Wednesday. The judge decided that they may await their trial in freedom
The duo will return to Spain, where they live, no later than Thursday.
Suspect company
Spain is also home to the transport company suspected of involvement in the shipment. The company Gruas y Desguaces Da Costa in Castellón de la Plana is run by Romanians, and justice in the Netherlands has now named two company managers as suspects.
This man and woman have yet to be interrogated. The Dutch prosecutor has lodged a legal assistance request for this with his Spanish colleagues.
Five Romanians
This brings the total number of suspects to five. On June 4, three Romanians were already arrested in Geleen. They were parked with two trucks in the Kampstraat. In one of those trucks 125 kilograms of hemp was found, packed in vacuum bags. Alexandru C. (41) was in the other truck. Although nothing illegal was found in it, he was still arrested.
Eager to go home
In September, Alexandru was released by the judge. Bogdan G. (28) and George R. (36) still had to remain in jail at that time. After all, they were arrested in the hemp truck. On Wednesday, lawyer Raimon Maessen requested that George be released, as there is no prospect of a substantive trial as yet. His colleague Maikel Horsch made a similar request.
Please be patient
The prosecutor did not oppose those requests. "We depend on the request for legal assistance in Spain to complete this case and we don't know how long that will take," he said Wednesday. After brief deliberation, the judge also agreed to release Bogdan and George. They are allowed to return to Spain, but remain suspects in the case.
Greater whole
Surrounding this case is the much larger investigation Unakiet, which revolves around international hemp trafficking between the Netherlands and Spain in particular. Main players in that drug network are, according to the justice department, Dejvi G. (37) and Houman E. (31). The latter has already been arrested. His Albanian "colleague" Dejvi is reportedly in his home country. He ran the Alba Car car company in Beek.
