Charles Zwolsman (6 August 1955 – 21 January 2011) was a Dutch drug dealer and professional

racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

and team owner.

Drug dealing

Zwolsman was born in

Oostzaan Oostzaan () is a municipality and a town in the Zaanstreek, Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is ...

, and started dealing in marijuana in the 1980s. He built an organization of about 60 people and between 1989 and 1993 alone smuggled at least 44

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

from Morocco and Spain to Holland and England. Starting in 1994, Zwolsman was arrested multiple times for drug smuggling and money laundering. His final conviction was in a 2010 for possession of 2,000 kilos of

hashish Hashish (; ), usually abbreviated as hash, is a Compression (physics), compressed form of resin (trichomes) derived from the cannabis flowers. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, As a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive ...

and four firearms in 2006. He received a three-year sentence, but died in his cell in

Nieuwegein Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the river Lek and borders on IJsselstein in the ...

, aged 55, in 2011.

Racing career

Zwolsman competed in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing series run for sports car racing, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 World Sportscar Championship, 1953 t ...

in 1991 finishing 6th overall in the driver standings, running his own team (Euroracing) with a chassis from

Spice Engineering Spice Engineering was a British racing team founded by driver Gordon Spice with Raymond Bellm in the early 1980s, later becoming a successful sports car constructor in 1986. They competed in the World Sportscar Championship in Europe as well as ...

. He attempted the series again in 1992 fielding a

Lola T92/10 The Lola T92/10 (also briefly known as the Lola 981) was a Group C sports car developed by Lola Cars as a customer chassis for the 1992 World Sportscar Championship season. It would be the final sports car built by Lola until their return in 19 ...

, but failed to score a point. However his Euroracing team finished 5th in the championship. The series folded the next year. He competed from 1990 to 1992 in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, having his best result in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

when he teamed with

Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen (; born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Frentzen was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won three Grands Prix across 10 se ...

and

Shunji Kasuya Shunji Kasuya (born 24 January 1962) is a Japanese former racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the te ...

to finish 13th. In 1992 he also competed in the

Interserie Interserie is the name of a European-based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited rules than in other series. Created in 1970 by German Gerhard Här ...

, winning one race and finishing 10th in the drivers' standings.Interserie Div. 1 1992
from the ''Driver Database'' Zwolsman's son Charles Jr. would follow his father into motorsports, also competing in Le Mans as well as

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

and

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

24 Hours of Le Mans Result

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwolsman, Charles Sr. 1955 births 2011 deaths Dutch drug traffickers 20th-century Dutch criminals 21st-century Dutch criminals 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Dutch racing drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers People from Oostzaan Racing drivers from North Holland People convicted of illegal possession of weapons Dutch sportspeople convicted of crimes pt:Charles Zwolsman