Former Netherlands international Quincy Promes was sentenced to six years in prison by an Amsterdam court on Wednesday in connection with drug trafficking.

The court considered It proven that he was involved in the smuggling of around 1,350 kilos of cocaine via the port of Antwerp in January 2020.

A second defendant, a cousin of Promes, was also sentenced to six years behind bars.

Promes, 32, was not present for the trial.

He plays at Spartak Moscow and Russia has no extradition treaty with the Netherlands.

The former Ajax player did not present a statement to the court but said through his lawyers thathe was innocent.

He Is expected to appeal the verdict.

The prosecution had sought a nine-year prison sentence, with intercepted crypto messages as main evidence.

The cocaine arrived in Antwerp on a container ship from Brazil, hidden between sea salt.

Promes played at Ajax at the time before returning for a second term to Spartak in 2021.

In 2023, he was sentenced to 18 months behind bars for assault in connection with a stabbing incident in 2020, a verdict he had appealed.

Promes had won 50 Netherlands caps since a 2014 debut but had not been called up in recent years. (dpa/NAN)