Frankfurt / Main (dpa / lhe) – A Dutchman who is accused of forming a criminal organization and money laundering is in custody in Germany after his arrest in Bosnia. According to a joint press release by the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) on Tuesday, the 45-year-old was arrested in Sarajevo on January 15 as a result of the BKA’s international manhunt. He was extradited to Germany on May 20, and a day later remand was ordered.
“The accused is suspected of being a leading member of a criminal organization that specializes in transferring drug proceeds from international cartels across borders in order to conceal their origin and build up payment flows in the international drug business,” the investigators reported.
Between October 2017 and October 2020, the accused is said to have arranged cross-border transfers of funds from criminal offenses amounting to more than 16 million euros. He is said to have commissioned other members to transport cash in smuggling vehicles or as a money courier by plane. Some of the transfers are said to have been carried out by transferring funds to middleman accounts.
