Two Dutch men from the Groningen city of Stadskanaal were arrested last week at the Hungarian festival Sziget on suspicion of dealing drugs.
One of the suspects, a 21-year-old man named Roelf B., is a talented sprinter. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports Roelf and his 22-year-old companion Gert Jan N., both of whom are believed to be from Stadskanaal, could face anywhere from 20 years to life in prison.
The two men are suspected of selling drugs from their tent at the festival. The police were tipped off by festival guards who had noticed a constant stream of visitors to the men’s tent. The police searched the tent and found a kilogram of ecstasy, around 450 bottles of narcotics and 128 grams of cannabis: the drugs in the tent are estimated to be worth around 15,000 euros. In a subsequent search of the suspects’ vehicles, an additional 17 kilos of narcotics were found, believed to have a street value of around 300,000 euros.
A lawyer representing the suspects has asked the judges in Hungary to release the men on bail, but that request was rejected. The public prosecutor said that there is a possibility that both of the men will be sentenced to life due to Hungary’s extremely strict anti-drugs policy. Drugs dealing carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, but if larger quantities are involved, suspects can face at least twenty years in jail.
