Minister queries DEA entrapment of drug baron

11 January 2006

AMSTERDAM — Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner has asked the US authorities to explain why the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) carried out an illegal operation in the Netherlands.

The issue came to light last September when lawyer Mark Teurlings complained the DEA set up a sting operation in the Netherlands to lure his client, Dutchman Henk Orlando Rommy, to the US where he is now on trial for drug offences.

Rommy, aka de Zwarte Cobra (Black Cobra), has several previous convictions for drug trading.

Teurlings pointed out that documentation prepared by the prosecution authorities, revealed a Dutch criminal informant and a DEA worked together to persuade Rommy to smuggle Ecstasy to the US. This type of entrapment is illegal in the Netherlands in the absence of permission.

The DEA went ahead with the operation even though the Dutch authorities refused to sanction it.

Teurlings said this clearly proved the rights of Dutch defendants in the US were being violated “in all possible ways”.

A jury in New York convicted Rommy – largely based on the evidence derived from the sting operation – of preparing to smuggle Ecstasy to America. He will be sentenced on 17 January. The US authority will answer the questions posed by Donner afterwards.

Subject: Dutch news