06.01.2026 (23:14) - 07.01.2026 (01:10)
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Klaas Bruinsma on his yacht |
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Klaas Bruinsma was a Dutch drug dealer and gang leader.
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
Bruinsma was born the second child of Dutchman Anton Bruinsma and British woman Gwen Kelly. Anton Bruinsma (1921–1984) had previously been married twice without children. This marriage was meant to change that. The couple had four children: Charly, Klaas, Anton, and Ada.
Nevertheless, this marriage also did not last long. After his parents' divorce, Klaas moved to Great Britain with his mother in the late 1950s. But he didn't stay there long. In 1964, he moved back to the Netherlands and lived in Blaricum in southeastern North Holland.
Even as a schoolboy, Bruinsma displayed problematic behavior. He began dealing soft drugs. In the increasingly liberal 1960s, the use of these drugs became fashionable. Previously, they had been largely confined to large cities or artistic circles. Such behavior, of course, didn't arise out of thin air. Besides external influences like the hippie movement, clear internal tensions were evident within the Bruinsma family. Klaas Bruinsma's father was a soft drink manufacturer who was extremely successful economically. At the same time, however, he was also exceptionally moody and tyrannized his family. Anton Bruinsma beat his children and tried to enlist them for his work from an early age. In response, Klaas Bruinsma, on the one hand, adopted a rebellious stance, exaggerating his behavior in the opposite, non-bourgeois direction, while on the other hand, he also wanted to surpass his father in terms of money and possessions.
DEFINITIVE ENTRY AND ADVANCEMENT
At sixteen, Bruinsma was convicted of his first drug offense in 1970. He received probation. Nevertheless, he was expelled from school. Bruinsma's father was not pleased with any of this. His son was at a crossroads: to turn his life toward a respectable path or to pursue a life of crime. He chose the latter. From 1974 onward, he began dealing drugs professionally.
Bruinsma initially attached himself to the distribution networks of established kingpins. Over time, however, he became increasingly independent. A key factor in this was his relationship with Hugo Ferrol, who came from Indonesia and was married to Thea Moear, the daughter of the legendary Gijsje "Blonde Greet" Balk. Moear wanted to surpass her mother's "moderate" drug smuggling operations and collaborated with Ferrol to achieve this. At the same time, she also had an ambivalent relationship with Ferrol's rivals, first Antonio Brusamolin (from Brussels) and later Klaas Bruinsma.
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| Hugo Ferrol |
Bruinsma proved to be very talented, but his activities did not go unnoticed by the state. The police at that time were not yet as professional in their drug enforcement efforts as they would later become, but they were already attempting to control the growing problem with intensified raids.
Bruinsma initially focused on the massive import of hashish, which he mostly obtained from Pakistan. At that time, before the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the civil war in Afghanistan, transporting such goods was still relatively easy. The main problems arose with the security forces of Iran ("Persia"), which was still ruled by the Shah. Drugs like cocaine became fashionable, or rather, regained popularity, during the 1970s.
In 1976, Bruinsma was sentenced to prison for the first time. This did not deter him, however. After his release, Bruinsma built a new organization. A key figure in this was the kickboxer, accomplice, and bodyguard André Brilleman. Bruinsma rewarded Brilleman with money and support for his new boxing gym.
In 1977, Bruinsma managed to win over Thea Moear, the partner of his main rival Hugo Ferrol. Thea Moear, who also had Arab ancestry, eventually became known as the "Godmother" of the drug trade. The two remained business partners for a long time.
This, however, also brought Bruinsma into a final enmity with Ferrol.
In 1978, Bruinsma wanted to preempt the impending danger and hired Henk Soetarno, of Indonesian descent, to assassinate Ferrol. The trap turned against the gang, and Soetarno was killed in the process.
In 1979, Bruinsma was convicted again, this time for importing hashish from Pakistan. After his release, he rebuilt his organization, aiming to supply large parts of Western Europe. At that time, Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain. His organization operated in Germany, Belgium, France, and Scandinavia.
In 1982, Bruinsma wanted to finally resolve the long-simmering problem with Ferrol. This time, his bodyguard André Brilleman, along with the Yugoslavian Alexander Marianovic, was supposed to carry out the liquidation. But the plan backfired again. Neither of them wanted to be so easily manipulated by Bruinsma, and many members of the Yugoslavian mafia were unwilling to choose sides in the conflict.
The "proof photo" of the liquidation was then staged with ketchup. Bruinsma was initially surprised that there was no mention of it in the newspapers, but he took the bait—until a confidant told him that he had seen the condemned man alive. Bruinsma was furious. Marianovic paid for this deception with his life; Brilleman was spared. Bruinsma didn't want to liquidate two men at once, and besides, he still needed Brilleman.
In 1983, Bruinsma was involved in a drug-related shootout in which he was wounded.
In 1984, he was sentenced to three years in prison for assault. During this time, his father died of cancer.
In 1985, while Bruinsma was still incarcerated, André Brilleman was murdered. Brilleman's body was found in the Waal (a branch of the Rhine). His remains had been dismembered and his genitals removed. They had then been placed in a barrel.
It is suspected that Bruinsma ordered the murder from prison. His motives were likely twofold: first, that Brilleman was conducting unauthorized side business and may even have stolen from his associates; and second, that he had played an unclear role in Bruinsma's previous conflicts with his rivals. On the other hand, the physically imposing Brilleman was needed as a bodyguard.
In 1987, after his release from prison, Bruinsma returned to managing his organization. This time, he restructured it. Thea Moear was replaced as the main business partner by Etienne Urka. At the same time, he sought to broaden his business base and entered the amusement arcade and slot machine market. In doing so, he established and strengthened his connections with Simon "Sam" Klepper and John Mieremet, nicknamed "Spic & Span" (after a household cleaner). Both were established figures in the Dutch underworld. They were childhood friends from Amsterdam and belonged to the notorious Kinkerbuurt gang, which also included Kees Houtman and George van Kleef. The Kinkerbuurt gang, in turn, had connections to the drug dealer Charles Zwolsman.
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| Sam Klepper |
These men, in turn, had connections to the underworld figures and Heineken kidnappers Cor(nelis) "Flip" van Hout and Willem Holleeder. Van Hout earned his nickname through excessive pinball playing. Both belonged to a larger criminal group that had met in school sports clubs, engaged in a few shady dealings, then, in the "left-wing 70s," evicted squatters for real estate sharks and, in 1983, carried out the kidnapping of the wealthy brewery owner Freddy Heineken. His chauffeur was also a victim. The kidnappers were eventually discovered but managed to escape to France and were only extradited and brought to trial some time later. Van Hout remained in prison until 1991. Only a portion of the ransom money was recovered.
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| Cor(nelis) van Hout and Willem Holleeder |
The problem with these criminal structures was that the members eventually killed each other. Partners suddenly became enemies, and vice versa. You could never really know where you stood. Only the criminal duo Klepper-Mieremet (Spic & Span) remained relatively stable.
With the support of pimps like Klepper and Mieremet, Bruinsma also had strong bases for his group. The Yab Yum brothel served as an important headquarters. In the 1980s, it was considered Amsterdam's "top brothel." The brothel generated phenomenal profits and even advertised in student magazines. For a long time, it was not apparent to the outside world who truly controlled the brothel.
Within the Bruinsma gang, which had now diversified further, the Briton Roy Francis Adkins assumed responsibility for the drug trade, disregarding the dealings with Etienne Urka. However, tensions and conflicts with Adkins soon began to surface.
SETBACKS AND DECLINE
Bruinsma's path up the criminal ladder was successful yet precarious. He supplied large parts of Western Europe and was probably one of the continent's biggest drug traffickers. He also had stakes in restaurants, brothels, and the gambling industry.
On the other hand, such a large empire was increasingly difficult to control.
Added to this were Bruinsma's own uncontrolled drug use and personal stress. Over time, some of the gang's operations went wrong, and Bruinsma's reputation within the criminal underworld began to decline.
Bruinsma, who had often been urged by his girlfriends to leave the criminal underworld once he reached a certain level of wealth, decided to retire after one last big heist. Many criminals had attempted something similar, and such schemes often backfired.
Bruinsma planned to import 45 tons of hashish—a huge amount. However, the plan failed, and the operation was exposed. Such failures significantly weakened Bruinsma's position within his own organization. Etienne Urka then took over the management of the business.
Further setbacks followed. When another operation failed in 1990, Bruinsma got into a fight with Roy Adkins. A shootout ensued, though no one was injured. When the police arrived, however, everyone present refused to give a statement.
In 1991, Adkins was found murdered.
The year 1991 also marked the end for Klaas Bruinsma. On June 27, the already largely isolated former underworld boss clashed with Martin Hoogland. Hoogland was a former police officer who was now working for the other side and had connections to the Yugoslav mafia. The "Yugo-Mafia" had a long-standing score to settle with Bruinsma, independent of any business rivalries, because he had had one of his bodyguards executed during clashes with his adversaries in the 1970s and early 1980s.
The altercation with Hoogland initially ended peacefully, but around 4 a.m. Bruinsma was shot dead in front of the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. He no longer had bodyguards at that time. Some experts doubt that Hoogland was the perpetrator, or even the sole perpetrator, and point to the Yugoslav mafia itself.
Be that as it may, Hoogland was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime in 1993, but was shot dead in 2004.
REPERCUSSIONS
After Bruinsma's death, Sam Klepper and John Mieremet (Spic & Span) took control of the Yab Yum brothel, and they in turn collaborated with the Hells Angels.
But their time also did not last long: Sam Klepper was murdered in 2000, a failed attack on John Mieremet occurred in 2002, and he was killed in Thailand in 2005.
The perpetrators of these attacks are not entirely clear. It's possible they stemmed from a falling out with the gang of Heineken kidnappers Cor van Hout and Willem Holleeder and their banker Willem Endstra. Van Hout allegedly attempted to rob the Klepper-Mieremet gang, who then sought revenge. This led to attacks in both directions. However, other perpetrators (or groups of perpetrators) are also conceivable.
In any case, the power struggle in the underworld of Amsterdam and the Netherlands continued.
The Bruinsma case was to have further repercussions. In the last years of his life, Bruinsma was acquainted with Mabel Wisse Smit. The extent of this relationship is disputed. However, it is likely that the two were a couple for approximately two years starting in 1989 (e.g., according to statements from bodyguards). When she then wished to marry into the Dutch royal family, Parliament, at the instigation of the Balkenende government, forbade her from doing so. When she subsequently decided to marry Prince Johan Friso of Orange-Nassau, he was forced to renounce his claim to the throne and his princely title.
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| Mabel Wisse Smit and Johan Friso of Orange-Nassau |
SOURCES:
Wikipedia
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various Dutch real crime sites
LIFE DATA OF THE ACTORS (SHORTIFIED FOR MANY):
Bruinsma, Klaas: 1953 - 1991 (murder)
Endstra, Willem: 1953 - 2004 (murder)Ferrol, Hugo: 1940 - 2015 (disease)
→ is alleged to have commissioned many murders
van Hout, Cor(nelis): 1957 - 2003 (murder)
Klepper, Sam: 1960 - 2000 (murder)
Mieremet, John: 1960 - 2005 (murder)
