Nainggolan denies any involvement in cocaine smuggling
Radja Nainggolan, ex-player of the Belgian national football team and currently player of Belgian second division side Lokeren-Temse, was arrested on Monday morning in a drugs investigation.
In a large-scale investigation into the importation of cocaine to Europe via the port of Antwerp, some 30 searches were carried out on Monday morning, mainly in the province of Antwerp and Brussels.
‘The investigation concerns suspected facts of importation of cocaine from South America to Europe, via the port of Antwerp, and its redistribution in Belgium,’ prosecutor Julien Moinil told De Morgen.
One of those arrested for questioning is Radja Nainggolan, ex-Red Devils and still active in Belgian professional football. The 36-year-old former player of Antwerp, AS Roma and Inter Milan, among others, signed a contract with Belgian second division side Lokeren-Temse only last week.
Radja Nainggolan formally denies any involvement. His lawyer Omar Souidi reveals that. ‘He fervently hopes he will be allowed to go home, but the investigating judge will decide that,’ it sounds.
Nainggolan's interrogation has now ended. ‘He is fiercely impressed by what happened. He has been brought up in the media in the past in traffic-related cases. This is a different story. He finds it impressive,’ Souidi said.
(FVDV and Fausto for Tagtik/Source: HLN, Nieuwsblad, De Morgen/Illustration picture: The original uploader was Wolf at Italian Wikipedia. real author is romazone on Flickr via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC BY 2.0)