WILLEMSTAD - On Monday 9 May 2022, the substantive hearing of the criminal case against four suspects in the Themis investigation started before the Court of First Instance. It concerns 41-year-old R.L., 37-year-old S.P., 49-year-old C.L. and the 35-year-old A.E. arrested in Curaçao in November 2020, February 2021 and March 2021. Three of the suspects have been in pre-trial detention since their arrest. The criminal cases against them will be heard before the General Court from Monday 9 May to Friday 13 May.
The suspects are suspected of having been part of an organization called the No Limit Soldiers (NLS). The Public Prosecution Service suspects the NLS of being a criminal partnership. According to the suspicions of the Public Prosecution Service, the partnership would have been involved in the drug trade for a long time and is held responsible for several murders committed in Curaçao, Sint Maarten and in the Netherlands. Other offenses against which the suspects are accused, and which will be dealt with before the Court are the instigation of two murders on Sint Maarten, the instigation of extortion and money laundering. One of the suspects is also on trial for various drug offences, including a drug transport of 172 kilos of cocaine from the port of Curaçao to the port of Le Havre in France.
In the Themis case, an investigation was conducted into criminal offenses committed in recent years in the various countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and in countries beyond. A criminal investigation team was therefore formed especially for this investigation, consisting of members of the police forces of Sint Maarten, Curaçao, Aruba and the Criminal Investigation Cooperation Team (RST). This investigative team is led by the Public Prosecution Service Sint Maarten and the Public Prosecution Service Curaçao.