December 16, 2024
Brother of Janus van Wesenbeeck before court on suspicion of large-scale cocaine trafficking
The 60-year-old brother of Dutch drug baron Janus van Wesenbeeck will appear in court in Den Bosch on Monday on suspicion of large-scale cocaine trafficking and money laundering. The men are said to have imported cocaine from South America and had it delivered to a scrap yard in the Netherlands. The case came to light after hacked EncroChat messages.

Eindhoven resident Jacobus Martinus “Tinus” van Wesenbeeck was arrested on December 5, 2023, together with a now 36-year-old co-suspect on suspicion of large-scale cocaine trafficking. The investigation into the two suspects was started after the police suspected this based on – among other things – messages in the encrypted messaging server EncroChat.

Underground banking
The police reported a year ago that the purchase of cocaine might have been done via underground banking. After the arrests, the police searched several buildings, including the suspects' homes and several garages. During the searches, digital data carriers and vehicles were seized, among other things.

According to the judiciary, the importing of cocaine is said to have taken place between November 2019 and December 2023. Van Wesenbeeck is also suspected of habitual money laundering.

Jacobus Martinus “Tinus” van Wesenbeeck has been in custody for over a year now. He will appear in court today during a pro forma hearing in Den Bosch.

Castle murder
Tinus van Wesenbeeck was for some time a suspect in the case of the notorious Belgian castle murder . The Flemish castle lord Stijn Saelens was found dead in a forest in 2012, in the Flemish municipality of Sint-Maria-Aalter. In the end, Tinus was not prosecuted in this case. Other suspects were convicted.

Janus
Tinus van Wesenbeeck is the younger brother of Eindhoven drug baron Janus. In 2011, the Belgian justice department named the latter the leader of the largest drug cartel in the Benelux. The successful television series Undercover was based on his person and experiences.

In the book Drugsbaron, Janus' brother Tinus is also mentioned several times. He was seen more as the man who stood in the shadow of his older brother.

https://www.crimesite.nl/broer-van-...denking-van-grootschalige-cocainehandel/