The Netherlands champion can receive 13 years in prison for drug smuggling

The champion of the Netherlands in Twente ex -football player Ronnie Stam is suspected of smuggling more than 2.2 tons of cocaine with an assessment cost of 57 million euros, Omroep Brabant reports.

Also in the bench of the defendants is his older brother – Rudy.

The State Prosecutor believes that the brothers played an important role in the international drug trade, and demanded thirteen years of prison for Ronnie and more than six years of prison for Rudi. Both also must pay about 1.7 million euros.

At the trial in Breda, it was found that the brothers transported cocaine from South America to the Netherlands in 2020 and 2021. Ronnie Stam only admitted that he was an intermediary in smuggling of 20 kilograms of drugs by mail from Brazil to Frankfurt in 2020, but denied any further involvement in the trade in narcotic substances.

The 40 -year -old Stama has been in custody since its first arrest in June 2024.

In 2010, Stam won the Netherlands Championship with Twente under the leadership of the former coach of England, Steve McLaren, and then moved to Wigan in the same year. As part of the English team, he became the winner of the Cup of England in the 2012/13 season.