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. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...

and team owner.

Drug dealing

Zwolsman was born in

Oostzaan Oostzaan () is a municipality and a town in the Zaanstreek, Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The municipality had a population of in . Oostzaan has a total area of of which is water. Oostzaan—together with Westzaan and Assen ...

, 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 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

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 ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...

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 Netherlands, Dutch province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht (city), Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the ...

, aged 55, in 2011.

Racing career

Zwolsman competed in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

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 (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, having his best result in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

when he teamed with

Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver. He competed in multiple disciplines including Sportscars, Formula One and DTM. He had his most success in Formula One, entering over 150 Grands Prix and winning three. ...

and

Shunji Kasuya Shunji Kasuya (born 24 January 1962) is a Japanese former racing driver. Racing record 24 Hours of Le Mans results References 1962 births Living people Japanese racing drivers Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers Japanese Tour ...

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 Härl ...

, 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, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as 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 driv ...

and

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

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 Sportspeople from North Holland People convicted of illegal possession of weapons pt:Charles Zwolsman