A Dutch-Colombian woman suspected of being a leading figure in international drug trafficking, nicknamed the “godmother of Amsterdam”, has been extradited by Colombia, Dutch prosecutors announced on Friday.
“Colombia has extradited at the request of the Netherlands a 48-year-old Colombian woman on suspicion of large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering,” the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement. “The woman is known in criminal circles as the ‘godmother’ of Amsterdam,” said the prosecution, without giving the name of the suspect.
The plane carrying her landed in the Netherlands on Thursday under the supervision of the Royal Constabulary, the public prosecutor said. She was previously detained in Colombia, following her arrest on January 29, 2024.
According to the prosecution, the suspect had a key role in cocaine trafficking from South America in the summer of 2020. Already convicted in 2017 by the Amsterdam court for planning drug trafficking, she is suspected of having been directly involved in the importation of 230 kilos of cocaine into Spain, intercepted on November 25, 2020.
-Dutch authorities worked hand in hand with Colombian and Spanish authorities and were able to identify the suspect after intercepting and decrypting messages from the secure messaging app Sky ECC.
By 2024, 17 suspects linked to the investigation had been arrested and 66 searches had been carried out in the Rotterdam region and outside the Netherlands. “During these searches, the police seized a total of more than 30 (automatic) firearms, a rocket launcher, 17 kilos of cocaine, more than 20 vehicles and more than 600,000 euros in cash,” specifies the press release. The woman was due to appear before the Rotterdam investigating judge on Friday.
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