Radio Nederland documentary wins CNN Award

TV portrait of smuggler

ATLANTA, Georgia - A documentary made of a Dutch drugs smuggler once incarcerated in Thailand has captured a CNN World Report Award. Directed by Annette Posthumus, ’Drug Trafficker’ was made by Radio Nederland TV.

The Dutch won their award in the category Best Personal Profile. The documentary’s subject, Pedro Ruijzing, was arrested in Thailand ten years ago. He was pardoned on the occasion of Queen Beatrix state visit to Thailand last year. Since then, Ruijzing has embarked on a series of motivational speeches at elementary and high schools throughout the Netherlands warning against the dangers of getting entangle in the world of illicit drugs.

RNTV, a division of Wereldomroep, is a frequent supplyer of news items to CNN World Report. More than 110 submissions from 50 broadcasters worldwide were entered in this year's competition.

Upon his release, Ruijzing, with copywriter Henk de Kleine, wrote a book about his ten years in Thailand jails. The drug trafficker confessed his crimes following his arrest, and accepted the consequences.