WILLEMSTAD – The Public Prosecutor yesterday asked for severe penalties for the case of cocaine smuggling in containers at the Curaçao port. These are cases with various aliases such as Crow, Parrot, Sparrow, and Anker. In these cases, the Public Prosecutor named the dockmaster Roderick A, the security personnel from the port Franklin B, Regston R., Julien J., Sixto, and Sidney K. together with those responsible for falsifying signals Furny F. and those suspected of being owners of the cargoes Robert R. and Jernel R., all responsible for transporting over 1976 kilos of cocaine over 3 years via the Curaçao port. The case was heard over two long days, during which testimonies were heard and each of the accused spoke about their roles in this trafficking ring. All the accused except for dockmaster Roderick denied all the accusations. Yesterday, during the Public Prosecutor’s closing arguments, they presented some images clearly showing vehicles driving up the port area during the dark hours of the night, entering without being checked. It was also observed how people were climbing over fences to help load the containers. The RST team, during its investigation, breached the privacy of phone calls through the Sky system, where several conversations between the accused were intercepted. Photos of drug packages, forged signals, messages from bosses discussing white stones, quantities of kilos, routes, lines, and destinations of the merchandise were also seen. Regarding the accused Roderick A., the prosecutor said he gave incriminating statements against himself and the other accused. Initially, he wanted to stop this, but due to enormous pressure on him, he continued to participate to keep things calm. However, he stated he knew the more he participated, the less he could get out. He didn’t want to continue living that life anymore. He was paid for each transport he made possible, and he could easily pay his debts, he had a comfortable life, but in his conscience, he knew he was causing sadness to other families. Therefore, this was an opportunity to stop and start living a clean life with his family. The prosecutor denied that Roderick was paid to talk or to close a “deals.” The prosecutor went through the case file and argued that all the accused were guilty in this case. The prosecutor said it was a serious offense that has going on a long time. He accused them of abusing their positions and used a port that is of utmost importance internationally for large-scale drug trafficking. Taking all the aspects mentioned into consideration, the prosecutor arrived at a demand of 15 years for Robert R., 12 years for Jernel R., Franklin B., 8 years for Roderick A. and Sidney K., 6 years for Julien J., 5 years for Furney F., Sixto K. and 9 years for Regston F. On Thursday, lawyers Vaders, Gomez, Sulvaran, Eisden, Blonk, and Scheperboer will lead their defense.
