WILLEMSTAD - Press photographer Humbert 'Umpi' Welvaart has been sentenced to four years in prison. The photographer was acquitted in the first instance for involvement in a drug import in 2019, but the Public Prosecution Service (OM) appealed.
Welvaarty owns the boat El Capo, which was used to import a consignment of drugs from Venezuela three years ago. During an inspection, the Coast Guard found not only a load of fish but also sixteen kilos of cocaine. Both Welvaart and the captain claimed to know nothing about the drugs.
The judge ruled in the appeal that this was not the case. The Court derives evidence for this mainly from the content of tapped conversations between the suspects. In addition to drug imports, Welvaart has also been convicted of inadmissibly approaching a man who would be heard as a witness in the investigation.
Photo credit: Dick Drayer