Fugitive Dutchman arrested in Colombia
FASTNL reports that a convicted man has been arrested in Pereira and that the Netherlands has requested his extradition.
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A 32-year-old Dutchman who still has more than three and a half years of his prison sentence to serve in the Netherlands has been arrested in Colombia. The Public Prosecution Service announced the arrest and said that the Netherlands had requested his extradition.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the man was arrested in Pereira on 27 October. He had been convicted in the Netherlands in three Limburg drugs cases, with 1,355 days of his prison sentence still outstanding.
After his conviction in 2023, the man fled to Ecuador, according to the Public Prosecution Service. He then travelled on to Colombia, where he is said to have spent a considerable period in hiding. FASTNL, the team that tracks down fugitive suspects and convicts, obtained information about his suspected whereabouts.
The Public Prosecution Service cites convictions for possessing hard drugs, including MDMA, cocaine and amphetamine, and for possessing chemicals. As this is a final judgment, the case no longer concerns an allegation that still has to be assessed by a court.
The Netherlands has since requested his extradition. It is not yet known when the Colombian authorities will decide on this or when the man can be transferred to the Netherlands. Extradition proceeds through Colombian procedures and international mutual legal assistance.
The Public Prosecution Service also reported two other FASTNL cases. According to the service, a 71-year-old man was arrested on arrival at Schiphol Airport to serve a remaining sentence of 517 days. In total, the service says, three fugitive men were arrested, but the arrest in Colombia is the case in which international cooperation was involved directly.
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Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The factual core is based on an official statement from the Public Prosecution Service. The convicted man's identity has not been disclosed, and additional details from Colombia have been limited to what public sources report.
- confirmed A 32-year-old Dutchman was arrested in Pereira on 27 October. — The Public Prosecution Service gives the date, place and age. source
- confirmed The man had 1,355 days of his prison sentence still outstanding. — This figure appears in the Public Prosecution Service's statement. source
- confirmed The Netherlands has requested his extradition. — The Public Prosecution Service reports this explicitly. source
Editor's note
The Public Prosecution Service confirms the arrest, the remaining sentence and the extradition request. Details about the Colombian procedure and the subsequent timetable are still unknown.Sources
- Drie arrestaties in onderzoeken van FASTNL — Openbaar Ministerie
- Cayó en Risaralda alias Tommy, ciudadano neerlandés requerido por la Interpol — Infobae Colombia
More on this in Dutch media
- AD — „voortvluchtige colombia”
- de Volkskrant — „voortvluchtige colombia”
- RTL Nieuws — „voortvluchtige colombia”