The 41-year-old Brunssummer Ralph P. is not a producer of captagon pills, which end up being used as pep remedies for jihadists in the Middle East. He merely made his shed available to an acquaintance for the production of the synthetic drugs. That was P.'s assertion Wednesday in the Rotterdam court, where he heard five years in prison against him.
Drug environment
That punishment is justified, according to the prosecution, because he is said to be part of the drug milieu, protecting himself from intruders with weapons and cameras and laundering many thousands of euros of drug money by paying large purchases in cash.
The raid on P.'s farm on Titus Brandsmastraat on the outskirts of Brunssum last April was national news because it found over three kilos of pills with the captagon logo. It was the first time the stimulant was found in the Netherlands. It is used by IS jihadists, among others, to suppress fear, hunger and fatigue. In addition, dozens of kilograms of amphetamine were found.
Arab world
A connection between the production in Brunssum and the Middle East has never been proven, according to the Justice Department. Also, no pills were transported from the shed because the tablet machine was only in operation for one day. It is possible that the link to the Arab world will still emerge if the two fugitive prime suspects are apprehended. Their dna was found in P.'s shed; they are two acquaintances of the police.
One of them was an acquaintance of Ralph P. He wanted to rent his shed for the duration of one week for 2,500 euros. "I knew he was doing something wrong, but I didn't ask him what he needed the shed for. Afterwards I did. Then he told me he wanted to store pills there," P explained.
Vacuum cleaner
P. denies that he assisted in the production; he only bought a vacuum cleaner, gloves, mouth caps and a mortar tub for the perpetrators. That he stood in the shed the morning before the raid wearing a mouth mask and gloves does not make him a producer, argues his lawyer Serge Weening.
"He made some stupid mistakes in a short period of time," said Weening. By that he means the hemp nursery he had one room over and the three firearms and ammunition he had in his home. Two weapons were unintentional heirlooms from his father; the third was a payment from someone who was in debt to P.
Hard worker
Because the Brunssummer, who has been detained since April, is a hard worker who earns money with odd jobs like cutting trees, splitting wood and refurbishing and selling cars. This is how he gets large sums of cash. Weening thinks a year and a half in prison, some of it suspended, is appropriate because of the weapons possession, the shed rental and the hemp farm.
His ex-girlfriend should be acquitted, according to her lawyer Francoise Landerloo. She has also been charged with structural money laundering and prohibited possession of weapons, for which the prosecution says she should receive a year and a half in prison. But Landerloo argues that she could not have known about the weapons and that she obtained her income honestly through yoga classes, alimony and donations from the family.
