The Netherlands’ most feared drug lord was sentenced to life in prison for a series of murders committed between 2015 and 2017, a court announced at a mass hearing on Tuesday, February 27. Ridouan Taghi, 46, who was born in Morocco and raised in the Netherlands, is believed to be the mastermind of a drug cartel known as the “Moroccan Mafia”, as described by the prosecution. “A Well Oiled Killing Machine”.
Mr. Taghi was arrested in Dubai in 2019 and held in a high-security Dutch prison. Despite this, he continued to lead his gang from the inside by transmitting messages to his colleagues on the outside, according to the prosecution. He is considered to be the head of a network, with roots partly in the Benelux, commonly called the “Moroccan Mafia” because some of its members have Moroccan origins. In fact, it is a group of criminal groups considered to be one of the largest distributors of cocaine in the Netherlands. Mr Taghi has always denied the allegations.
None of the suspects gave a statement during the trial, which was slowed by many twists and turns. Mr. Taghi’s lawyer, Inez Vesci, was subsequently arrested in April 2023 on suspicion of helping her client communicate with the outside world. The newly appointed lawyers then resigned, saying they did not have enough time to prepare. Mr. Taghi then decided to provide his own defense. The prosecution’s file was more than 800 pages long, in which former gang member Nabil B. Includes evidence brought by and encrypted phone conversations.
Sixteen other convictions
The verdict came nearly four years after the trial began under high security. The military was mobilized to secure the area around the court during the hearing and prosecutors and judges, all unidentified, drove there in armored cars. Heavily armed law enforcement officers patrolled a court known as “The Bunker” on the outskirts of Amsterdam on Tuesday.
The other 16 suspects were sentenced to prison terms ranging from life to one year and nine months. Seventeen men were on trial for six murders and four attempted murders. “As a suspect, you had to wait a long time for a verdict, but this is also true for the relatives of the victims”, the judge said. Some of the defendants were in the courtroom to hear the verdict, but not Mr. Taghi.
“Marengo” trial
Due to its scale, the trial called “Marengo” is unprecedented in the Netherlands, according to observers. A Dutch streaming platform has also created a series, Mocro Mafia.
The main prosecution witness, Nabil B. Three people linked to him were killed during the trial: his brother in 2018, his lawyer Derk Wiersum in 2019, and well-known journalist Peter R. De Vries. “All this has largely cast a shadow over this trial.”, the judge said. All three murders are the subject of separate legal proceedings. Tuesday’s ruling relates to crimes committed between 2015 and 2017, in which suspects were mainly targeted by the gang for becoming police informants.
The 2017 killing of Hakeem Changachi in Utrecht is considered a mistake by the prosecution. After some time, Nabil b. Went to the police and agreed to be a witness for the prosecution. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.
