Dutch footballer Promes extradited over cocaine smuggling case

THE HAGUE: Former Ajax and Dutch international footballer Quincy Promes has been extradited from Dubai to the Netherlands, prosecutors said Friday, after a conviction for smuggling more than a tonne of cocaine.

A Dutch court sentenced the former winger in February 2024 to six years behind bars, finding him guilty of helping to smuggle 1,363 kilogrammes (3,000 pounds) of cocaine from Brazil in 2020.

In a separate case, the 33-year-old had already been sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay compensation for stabbing his cousin over a stolen necklace.

An appeal is ongoing in both cases. A spokeswoman for prosecutors confirmed to AFP local media reports that Promes was on his way to the Netherlands after the extradition.

Promes was arrested in Dubai in March 2024 but Dutch prosecutors said that was for a local offence unrelated to the cases in the Netherlands.

He won 50 caps for the Netherlands, scoring seven goals, and was part of the side that lost to the Czech Republic in the last 16 of the Euro 2020 championships, which was played in 2021 due to Covid.

He has not worn the orange jersey since.

In 2019, Promes joined Dutch giants Ajax in Amsterdam, after a 15-million-euro ($17.2 million) transfer from Spanish La Liga outfit Sevilla.

In 2021, he left the Dutch capital for Moscow and has played for Spartak ever since, following a previous stint from 2014-2018, during which he was named Russia’s footballer of the year.