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Dane sentenced to 22.5 years on holiday
Lucie Rychla
May 21st, 2015
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This article is more than 9 years old.
Former marine concedes that prison is luxurious, but questions whether anyone would want to spend a vacation there for two decades
The ‘paradise prison’ is located on Margarita Island in the Caribbean (photo: Pixabay)
A former Danish marine, who has been sentenced to 22.5 years by a Venezuelan court for smuggling cocaine, has been raising eyebrows with his remarks about his luxurious Caribbean prison.
Described in the media as ‘a paradise prison’, it has several swimming pools, basketball courts, baseball fields, a few restaurants and a casino.
And while Peter Brinkholt conceded it is isn’t “terribly bad”, he questions whether anyone would want to go “to the same place on holiday for years”.
Hidden stack of cocaine
Besides, Brinkholt maintains he is innocent following his conviction for smuggling after he travelled on a sailboat in 2013 in the Caribbean that had about 400 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the fuel tanks.
The 61-year-old Dane claims he knew nothing about the hidden cocaine and is preparing an appeal.
“I had nothing to do with it,” Brinkholt told Ekstra Bladet.
“Of course, I had no idea there was cocaine on board, otherwise I wouldn’t have sailed on it.”
Longer sentence than others
According to Brinkholt, the owner of the boat and the captain, both of who were on board at the time of the arrest, have confirmed that Brinkholt did not know about the drugs.
The two of them pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 13 years in prison, while Brinkholt maintained his innocence and ended up getting a more severe sentence because the judge did not believe him.
Brinkholt explained to Ekstra Bladet he was helping his German acquaintance to sail the boat to the French island of Saint Martin, where a new buyer was waiting to buy the sailboat.
French authorities boarded the boat on the open seas and found 406 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the fuel tanks. They then handed over the men to the Venezuelan authorities.
Not terribly bad, but boring
Brinkholt has already spent almost two years in San Antonio Prison on Margarita Island.
It is possible to buy alcohol there as well as get a private room, and female prisoners are allowed to spend the night with the male inmates as long as they get back to their cells in the morning.
Brinkholt himself paid about 2,000 euros to have his own room with a cable TV and a mobile phone, so he can keep in touch with the outside world and follow the Danish media.
“I wouldn’t say it’s terribly bad,” he said.
“But what the hell! You don’t want to go on holiday to the same place and spend years there. It’s like staying at La Santa Sport for four consecutive years. Eventually, it would get boring.”
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