Dutch footballer Quincy Promes arrested for drug smuggling

Quincy Promes, a footballer for Spartak Moscow, has been detained in Dubai following a request from the Netherlands, where he was sentenced to six years in prison without being present for drug trafficking last month. Dutch authorities have expressed their intention to seek his extradition.

Promes, who previously played for the Dutch national team, was not present at his trial in Amsterdam and did not appear likely to voluntarily return to the Netherlands soon.

His arrest was facilitated by an international Red Notice, which is a global alert issued to law enforcement agencies to apprehend an individual pending their extradition.

The court in Amsterdam found that Promes was actively involved in the transport of 1,360 kilograms of cocaine from Brazil to the Netherlands via the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2020, spread across two separate shipments.

Moreover, in a separate legal matter, Promes was sentenced in absentia to 18 months in prison for an assault case where he was accused of stabbing a cousin in the knee during a dispute in 2020.

Promes has contested all allegations against him and has lodged appeals for both the drug trafficking and assault convictions.