Quincy Promes, the 34-year-old former Ajax and Netherlands forward, has provided detailed testimony about his involvement in a major cocaine trafficking operation for the first time. During a full day of questioning in June, the convicted footballer explained to authorities how he became entangled in the 2020 drug smuggling case alongside his cousin Marylio V., according to his lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops at an appeal hearing in Amsterdam on Monday.
Promes was sentenced to six years in prison in February 2024 after encrypted chat messages revealed he had instructed drug extractors to import shipments totalling 650 and 712 kilos of cocaine in January 2020. Customs officials managed to intercept one consignment, but the second shipment successfully reached its destination, generating millions in proceeds. The former international initially absconded from proceedings, denying all charges before authorities arrested him in Dubai and extradited him to the Netherlands.
Appeal Hearing and Extended Custody
Promes has now spent more than 1.5 years in custody awaiting trial outcome. During Monday's appeal session, the court authorized questioning of his cousin regarding Promes's new statements, with that examination scheduled for November. The substantive hearing is set for 30 November and 2 December, where Promes will also face trial on a separate charge of stabbing a family member in 2020. His cousin received an appeal sentence of three years and eight months in March 2024—significantly reduced from the original six-year term handed down at first instance.
The case marks one of Dutch football's most serious criminal convictions, drawing scrutiny to how elite athletes have been implicated in organized crime networks. The appeal outcome will determine whether Promes's custodial sentence is upheld or modified based on his cooperation and testimony.
