Klaas Bruinsma | |
---|---|
Born |
Amsterdam, Netherlands |
October 6, 1953
Died | June 27, 1991 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
(aged 37)
Cause of death | Murder |
Nationality | Dutch |
Other names |
De Lange De Dominee |
Occupation | Drug lord |
Klaas Bruinsma (6 October 1953 – 27 June 1991) was a major Dutch drug lord. He was shot dead on 27 June 1991 by organized crime member and former police officer Martin Hoogland. He was known as "De Lange" ("The Tall One") and also as "De Dominee" ("The Reverend") because of his black clothing and his habit of lecturing others.
Bruinsma and his gang often hung out at the Amsterdam luxury brothel Yab Yum. In 1990 Bruinsma and his associate Roy Adkins fought in the brothel after one of their operations had gone sour; shots were fired but nobody was injured and nobody talked to the police. Adkins was assassinated later that year. A newspaper article in 2006 reported that true ownership of the brothel had long been in the hands of organized crime figures, beginning with Klaas Bruinsma, who called it "the club house". After Bruinsma's death in 1991, his associates Sam Klepper and John Mieremet and the Dutch Hells Angels took over control of the club.
On the night of 27 June 1991 Bruinsma became involved in a verbal argument with Martin Hoogland, an ex-police officer who was employed by organized crime at that time. Bruinsma was shot to death by Hoogland in front of the Amsterdam Hilton hotel at 4 a.m. that morning. Hoogland was murdered in 2004 in prison.
On October 2, 2003, a former bodyguard of Bruinsma, Charlie da Silva, declared in the television show of Peter R. de Vries, that Mabel Wisse Smit had been a very close friend of Bruinsma's, and had been a regular guest on his yacht during the night. Wisse Smit, who at that point was engaged to Prince Friso, had told prime-minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Queen Beatrix that she had only been slightly acquainted with Bruinsma. Because of this incident, the Dutch government decided not to request permission of parliament for the marriage, causing Prince Friso to lose his claim to the Dutch throne after his marriage to Wisse Smit.