2024-01-08 18:54:00
Franky D., from Zwevegem near Kortrijk, was arrested in October 2022 and has been in prison ever since. In previous years he is said to have played a leading role in setting up a supply line through which large quantities of drugs were imported through the port of Antwerp. We are talking regarding at least 1.8 tonnes. However, Franky D. claims that he was acting on behalf of the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Belgian Federal Judicial Police. A mysterious “Mr. Manny”, who works at the American embassy, would have recruited him in the 1990s following a first contact in South America, from where, successful entrepreneur that he was, imported wood and plant extracts from America from South.
” This gave him the opportunity to be in contact with the drug mafia and act as an undercover. My client has been very successful in this area. He helped capture the biggest criminals in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. His next target was Jos Leijdekkers (Ed. also known as “Bolle Jos”, a major player in international drug trafficking),” says his lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge in Krant van West-Vlaanderen. “In 2020, my client was sentenced to an additional five years in prison for drug crimes, but he also acted on behalf of Mr. Manny. He kept silent regarding the DEA and, in exchange, his prison sentence “was never executed. His conviction also allowed him to slip easily into his next undercover case. My client worked for years for the DEA and was allowed to collect his salary each month at a currency exchange in Ostend .”
The public prosecutor does not believe, at this stage, in Ricky D’s infiltrator status. Lawyer Walter Walter Van Steenbrugge is appealing. ©Reporters
”In June of last year, his contract with Manny ended, but he was never given a reason for this,” the lawyer continues. “He was arrested on October 26, 2022. At first he thought it was a set-up, but everyone gave up on him. He has now been in detention for over a year and feels abandoned. ”
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The public prosecutor does not believe, at this stage, in this infiltrator status. There were indeed contacts with the American embassy and one with the federal police, but according to the judge, this does not sufficiently demonstrate that Franky D. was working on behalf of a national or foreign government and can therefore be prosecuted for his crimes. The Kortrijk Criminal Court thus decided. However, lawyer Van Steenbrugge immediately decided to appeal this decision.
Franky D. is targeted along with six others in the ongoing case, but little is known regarding the heart of the case or the sanctions that await them. It is only when the allegations of infiltration are once more rejected or, on the contrary, this time accepted, that the case can be examined on its merits.
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