Ex-Premier League star sentenced to seven years in prison for part in €41.5m cocaine smuggling operation

Former Premier League player Ronnie Stam has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his part in a €41.5m (£49m/$66m) drug-smuggling operation.

• Spent three years on the books at Wigan
• Retired at NAC Breda in 2016
• Became caught up in criminal activity

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The 41-year-old has been charged with plotting to smuggle more than two tons of cocaine into the Netherlands. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service claims that Stam is a major player in that multi-million-pound operation.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  There were calls for Stam to be jailed for 13 years, but the judge at Breda courthouse acquitted him of two more serious charges. He has been convicted of trafficking 724 kilos of cocaine, as well as large quantities of MDMA and nitrous oxide.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Stam and his accomplices stand accused of smuggling drugs from South America, with a money-laundering racket valued at £2.2m. Stam admits to being involved in a plot to bring 20 kilos of cocaine into the German city of Frankfurt from Brazil. He claimed that his payment for that was “an amount worth one kilo” and that he regrets his involvement with any criminal ringleaders.

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  TELL ME MORE

  Stam is said to have become involved with serious crime following his retirement from professional football in 2016. He was on the books at NAC Breda at that point, having returned to his roots following spells with Wigan and Standard Liege.