Quincy Promes arrested in Dubai at request of Dutch prosecutors

Spartak Moscow forward Quincy Promes has been arrested in Dubai at the Netherlands’ request, after he was sentenced last month to six years in prison for drug trafficking.

Dutch prosecutors said on Wednesday morning that they will ask for the extradition of the former Netherlands international. Promes did not attend court hearings for his case in Amsterdam and was not anticipated to return to the country for the foreseeable future.

Prosecutors said that Promes, who has earned 50 caps for the Netherlands, was arrested on a red notice. This serves as a global request to law enforcement agencies to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition.

A statement from the Amsterdam public prosecution service read: “The arrested man was reportedly staying in luxury in Dubai according to various media reports. However, he has been taken into custody thanks to the efforts of the authorities in both countries. At this time, it is not possible to provide additional information to avoid disruption of the ongoing investigation.”

In February, Promes was sentenced in his absence to six years in prison by a Dutch court for his involvement in smuggling 1,350kgs of cocaine.

He was accused of being involved in the smuggling of two cocaine shipments into the Belgian port of Antwerp via the Cap San Nicolas container vessel in January 2020.

The first shipment was concealed within sacks of salt and consisted of 650 blocks of cocaine. The second shipment, intercepted by Belgian police, featured a logo of a tiger and weighed 712kgs.

Promes has denied any involvement. Initially, prosecutors sought a nine-year jail sentence, but the court rejected their request, citing reliance on previous cases with harsher punishments.

In a statement, representatives of Promes, Cleerdin & Hamer Advocaten, stated that they have appealed the court’s verdict on behalf of their client.

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It read: “Quincy Promes has always denied having been involved in the facts alleged by the court. We have therefore appealed the Amsterdam court’s verdict on Promes’ behalf. This week we also submitted our grievances against the verdict to the Amsterdam Court of Appeal in a detailed written submission. In doing so, the defence also submitted several new requests for investigation to the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.

“This means that the verdict of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal is not final. The alleged role of Promes in this case will be completely reassessed by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. It is not yet foreseeable when the appeal proceedings in the Netherlands will be completed. Thereafter, there is also the possibility for the prosecution and the defence to appeal in cassation to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.

“In the United Arab Emirates, the extradition procedure will now have to be completed. We note that an independent judge in Dubai will now decide on the Dutch request for extradition. In general, an extradition procedure can take quite some time and has many formal steps and requirements. This is customary in the Netherlands as well. The outcome and duration of the extradition procedure cannot be predicted at this time.”

The former Ajax and Sevilla winger was also previously found guilty in his absence and sentenced to 18 months in prison for stabbing his cousin at a family party. He has denied all charges.

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(Mike Kireev/NurPhoto via Getty Images)