Courier from drug gang gets twelve months in prison for money laundering: “He threatened police with death” (Middelkerke)

A 34-year-old Briton has been given an effective prison sentence of twelve months in the Bruges court for money laundering and death threats. Simon H. worked as a courier for an international drug gang and was exposed in Middelkerke.

On November 8 last year, the police pulled over H.’s Spanish rental car in Middelkerke. “He drove around like a brute, had no driver’s license and the car should have been returned to the rental company a long time ago,” prosecutor Peter Vercauteren explained. The police found 17,690 euros in cash in the car, neatly divided into packages of 1,000 euros.

Photos of firearms

During his arrest, H. threatened the police with death several times. He said he was in Belgium as a tourist and therefore had a lot of savings. But examination of his phone revealed that he was a courier for an international drug gang. “In addition to drugs, he also transported money. Two days before the interception, he had received a message with the order to hand over 17,000 euros. His phone also contained photos of firearms and boxes of cannabis,” the prosecutor said.

Because the investigation yielded insufficient evidence for drug violations, H. was not prosecuted for it. He unsuccessfully denied that he was moving money for a gang. “He only admits to the threats,” lawyer Nadia Lorenzetti pleaded. “My client has been struggling with psychological problems since he became the victim of a stab. However, he had not taken his medication at the time of his arrest. Because of this he was not himself.”