A drugs smuggler who used a secret compartment in a van to import Hugo Boss branded cocaine into Britain worth millions of pounds has been jailed. Frederikus Prosman, 51, helped an international crime gang transport huge quantities of class A and class B drugs into the country from the Netherlands.
A court heard he concealed cocaine, ketamine and cannabis inside an internal fake side of a grey Ford Connect van as he transported it over the Channel by ferry. The Dutch citizen then drove it to stash houses across England, including in the West Midlands, London, Liverpool, Slough and Halifax.
The East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) found Prosman came to the UK 46 times in 2017, using the same van on the ferry from Rotterdam into Hull. He was linked to the seizure of 35kg of cocaine, which was found along with 100kg of ketamine from a stash houses in Willenhall, West Midlands, in December 2017.
Prosman was then stopped in his van by UK Border Force at King George Docks in Hull, later that month having disembarked the Pride of Rotterdam ferry. A search of the vehicle revealed 26kg of cannabis hidden behind wooden side panels, which were released with a custom made pulley system.
A notepad containing a phone number linked to previously jailed gang boss Ardeep Takhar, 45, of Leicester, was also recovered. Prosman pleaded guilty to importing class B drugs and was sentenced to two years in jail before being deported.
Officers extradited him from The Netherlands in 2021 to face justice for 10 further trips to Britain, as well as his supplies to other drug importers across the country. Prosman, of Den Haag, Holland, was found guilty of three counts of conspiracy to import cocaine and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to import cannabis.
He was jailed for 22 years at Leicester Crown Court on Friday (11/3). Prosman was caged alongside one of his cocaine customers Philip Sheward, who was found in possession of 21kg of cocaine by the Metropolitan Police in 2018.
He was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to import cocaine between July and October 2017 and supplying cocaine between July and December 2017.
Sheward, of Hornchurch , East London was jailed for 20 years after being described by a judge as a "utterly remorseful drug trafficker". In September last year, 22 members of the organised crime group were jailed for more than 200 years between them for their parts in the conspiracy.
Detective Constable Gary Sumpter said: “Under Operation Buster we have taken out a significant organised crime group with reach across a large proportion of the country. It cannot be underestimated how many people will have been safeguarded by capping off such a major supply route of highly potent substances.
“The two men jailed today were arrested during our enquiries and were heavily involved in the importation of harmful drugs into the UK.
In a 12-month period, Prosman had used his converted van to bring hundreds of kilos of cocaine and other drugs from over the Channel.
"Sheward was a valued customer and offered him the means to insert these drugs into our communities. Together, they have contributed to causing untold damage though gang violence, addiction and drug dependency-related crime.
“We’ll be using the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize any criminal gains, to ensure neither of them benefit from a single penny they made through drugs.”
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea
