A former Ajax and international winger Quincy Promes, aged 32, was sentenced to six years in prison by a Dutch court on Wednesday for his involvement in smuggling over one thousand kilograms of cocaine.
The spokesperson informed AFP that Quincy Promes, who is currently with Spartak Moscow, did not attend the court hearing where the sentence was given. Efforts to bring him back from Moscow have been unsuccessful. During the court summary, Judge M. Vaandrager mentioned that Quincy Promes, with his football skills, serves as a role model for many, particularly the youth.
“The suspect is regularly in the news, is active on social media, and has fans worldwide,” the judge said.
“This makes it even worse that he has tried to increase his wealth… by participating in major international drug trafficking.
“All things considered, the court finds a six-year prison sentence appropriate,” it said in a statement.
The court found Quincy Promes guilty of smuggling 1,363 kilograms of cocaine from Brazil into The Netherlands through the port of Antwerp in 2020, with the assistance of an accomplice. Evidence included wiretapped conversations and encrypted messages sent by Promes using the alias “Fantasma.”
Prosecutors had requested a nine-year prison term, but the court deemed this excessive based on past cases. Promes’ defense lawyers pleaded not guilty.
In a previous incident, Promes had been convicted of stabbing his cousin in a dispute over a stolen necklace and was sentenced to 18 months in prison along with a compensation order.
Quincy Promes earned 50 caps for the Netherlands and scored seven goals. He was part of the team that was defeated by the Czech Republic in the last-16 match at the Euro 2020 championships, which took place in 2021 due to Covid.
He has not played for the national team since then. In 2019, Promes transferred from La Liga club Sevilla to Dutch club Ajax for 15 million euros. In 2021, he moved from Amsterdam to Moscow and has been playing for Spartak since then, after previously playing for the team from 2014 to 2018, during which he was named Russia’s footballer of the year.
