Page "Dési Bouterse" Paragraph 3

In 2000, he was sentenced in the Netherlands to 11 years imprisonment because he was found guilty of trafficking 474 kilos of cocaine.

Bouterse always denied being guilty and defended his conviction by claiming that the star witness in the case, Patrick van Loon, was bribed by the Dutch government.

According to Wikileaks cables released in 2011, Bouterse was active in the drug trade till 2006.