Court returns cocaine-in-banana-crates case for further investigation
Prague Municipal Court has quashed proceedings against three men accused by the state prosecutor of coordinating the transport of a large quantity of cocaine hidden in crates of tropical fruit.
Court returns cocaine-in-banana-crates case for further investigation
The criminal panel of the capital city has quashed proceedings against three men, whom the state prosecutor accuses of coordinating the transport of a large quantity of narcotic substance hidden in crates of tropical fruit. The decision concerns a former head of the fresh goods department at a retail chain, a former contact of convicted businessman Radovan Krejčíř, and a foreigner living long-term in Czechia. The case returns to the hands of the prosecutor, who will have to supplement it. Court spokeswoman Kateřina Eliášová confirmed the information.
The judges relied on the relevant article of the criminal code, which allows them to return the matter if the course of the main hearing reveals new facts. The prosecutor immediately appealed the ruling.
Last year, the panel led by Jarmila Pavlátová ruled partially in favour of the three men. According to her, the indictment did not sufficiently specify what precisely the accused were to have committed, at what time, at what place, and how they were to have participated in drug trafficking. This judgment was, however, quashed by the higher court instance. The men have denied their involvement from the outset. They face up to eighteen years in prison.
According to the indictment, the foreigner headed a structured group that trafficked in narcotic substances and operated in the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, and in South American states. According to investigators, the former employee of the department store was to have arranged the logistics of transporting the shipment through a selected transport company and to have monitored its movement. The second of the men was to have connected individual members of the network and provided them with locations for secret meetings.
The shipment, on account of which the men face charges, was allegedly organised by the three men in the period from November 2021 to August 2022. The quantity of the drug exceeded three hundred kilogrammes. The narcotic substance was hidden in paper packaging with bananas, which were to serve as cover. The cargo was shipped by ship to a German port and from there travelled to other countries on the continent.
Source: Czech News (ČTK) — https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/2842318
Source: Google News CZ — Crime (cs)