AMSTERDAM – Former football player Quincy Promes (34), convicted of cocaine trafficking, has been so traumatized by the treatment he underwent after his arrest in Dubai that lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops wants his client to undergo a personality examination.
“He was interrogated for days with a hood over his head,” the lawyer claims.
During a non-substantive hearing on Friday afternoon in the court in Amsterdam, Knoops said that there is no immediate reason to think that Promes has a disorder, but that he said he has “experienced quite a bit”. “And then it is good to find out who he actually is,” said the lawyer. According to him, a lot has happened in Promes’ life that could be relevant to the cases charged against him.
An investigation by a psychologist could provide more insight into this. Knoops did not want to go into further detail about the alleged personality problems. The former Dutch international with Surinamese roots claims that after he was arrested by the police in Dubai in 2024 because he was wanted via Interpol at the request of the Netherlands, he was interrogated for a week with a hood over his head. That would have made him fearful of the law.
Thirteen hundred kilos of cocaine
Promes was convicted in two cases in 2023 and 2024: for stabbing a distant cousin during a family dispute (one and a half years in prison) and for his involvement in the import of more than thirteen hundred kilos of cocaine (six years in prison). He finally admitted the first; he continues to deny the second in every way.
After his extradition to the Netherlands, Promes initially took a silent stance, but according to Knoops there are reasons for this. The lawyer says that his client is prepared to provide more detailed explanations. The court wanted to know whether Promes’ personality plays a role in both cases, including the drugs case that he denies. Knoops replied that “Promes will also say something about that.”
Promes will soon be interrogated again about the cases for which he has already been convicted, but against which he has appealed. The substantive hearing of the appeal is scheduled for the end of this year. The ex-footballer was not present on Friday and remained in his cell in Zwolle prison.
Public Prosecution Service wants eight million euros
In the meantime, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) is trying to reclaim the eight million euros that the footballer has earned from drug trafficking, according to the justice department. A procedure regarding this is also still ongoing. The multimillion-dollar claim emerged during a recent confiscation hearing against Promes. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the footballer earned this amount through large-scale cocaine smuggling through the port of Antwerp, for which he was convicted.
The Public Prosecution Service bases the claim of eight million euros on statements that Promes himself allegedly made. In encrypted messages he allegedly indicated that he could receive between 29,000 and 33,000 euros per block of cocaine. According to the court, Promes was involved in the preparation of the import of 650 kilos of cocaine and 712.8 kilos of cocaine through the port of Antwerp in early 2020. The latter batch was intercepted, but millions of euros are said to have been earned with the 650 kilo batch. That is why the Public Prosecution Service wants to reclaim more than eight million euros from Promes.
The sad thing is that, if Promes had stayed on the straight and narrow, he might have been part of the Dutch team that kicks off in the United States on Sunday for its first match at the Football World Cup. He was a regular in the Dutch team for many years and played fifty international matches until his departure in 2021. His last match dates from June 27, 2021, when the Netherlands lost 2-0 to the Czech Republic in the eighth finals of the European Football Championship and was eliminated.
