Ridouan Taghi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ridouan Taghi
Born (1977-12-20) December 20, 1977 (age 44)
Tetouan, Morocco
NationalityMoroccan, Dutch
OccupationOne of the leaders of the Moroccan mafia
Criminal charge(s)Murder, drug trafficking

Ridouan Taghi (born 20 December 1977)[1] is a Moroccan-Dutch person who became a prime suspect in his alleged involvement in at least ten murders related to organised crime, drug trafficking and leading a criminal organisation.[2][3]

Until his late 2019 arrest in Dubai, Taghi was the most wanted criminal in the Netherlands with a record-breaking reward of €100,000.[4][5] As of 2022 he is held at Nieuw Vosseveld, a maximum security prison in Vught and the main suspect in the Marengo trial.


Accusations[]

Taghi's suspected crimes include ordering the murder of Redouan B. (brother of crown witness Nabil B.), of Nabil B.'s lawyer, Derk Wiersum and of Nabil B's confidential advisor, international crime reporter Peter R. de Vries.[6][7] The second was considered an attack on the Dutch legal system and the latter as an attack on the freedom of journalism.[8][9]

Documents produced by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States, and sent to the Dutch police, exposed what appeared to be a super drug cartel headed by Ridouan Taghi, Raffaele Imperiale (Camorra's drugs and arms dealer), Daniel Kinahan (Irish reputed gang boss) and Edin Gačanin (Bosnian drug trafficker). The group was observed by the DEA having meetings in the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, where the base of the alleged cartel is stationed. The meetings took place in 2017, however, it only reached the Dutch media in October 2019. The DEA regards this as one of the world's fifty largest drug cartels, with virtually a monopoly over the Peruvian cocaine controlling around a third of the total European cocaine trade. Yet, according to the DEA documents, the destination for all the drugs shipments would be to shipping ports in the Netherlands.[10][11][12]

Taghi managed to evade capture by constantly altering his appearance and using false passports and visas.[13] He was arrested in Dubai on 16 December 2019. As the Netherlands does not have an extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates, Taghi was deported three days after his arrest; based on him being declared a persona non grata by the government, as he had entered the UAE under a false identity. He is being held at Nieuw Vosseveld in Vught. The trial is currently ongoing in high-security De Bunker courtroom.[14][15]

References[]

  1. ^ "Tijdlijn: zo loopt het criminele pad van Ridouan Taghi". Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Ridouan Taghi, alleged 'Angels of Death' boss, arrested in Dubai". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  3. ^ ANP (2019-12-16). "Dit is de lange lijst van beschuldigingen tegen Ridouan Taghi". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  4. ^ "Tijdlijn: zo loopt het criminele pad van Ridouan Taghi". Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Recordbeloning van 100.000 euro voor opsporing criminelen Taghi en Razzouki". Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 2019-12-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "PROSECUTOR TO KEEP USING KEY WITNESSES AFTER LAWYER'S MURDER". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Dubai police arrest Netherlands' most wanted man". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 2019-12-16. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  8. ^ "PROSECUTOR TO KEEP USING KEY WITNESSES AFTER LAWYER'S MURDER". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  9. ^ https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/vermoedelijke-schutter-peter-r-de-vries-is-neef-van-leider-moordbende-taghi~bc6a2a51/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
  10. ^ "Taghi part of "super cartel" controlling third of EU cocaine trafficking: report". NL Times. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  11. ^ "Bundelen cokekartels de krachten in Dubai?" (in Dutch).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Werkt Ridouan Taghi samen met deze drugshandelaren?" (in Dutch).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ "Zo pakte de politie Ridouan Taghi (This is how the police captured Taghi)". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Ridouan Taghi deported to the Netherlands". NL Times. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  15. ^ Dillon, Eamon (1 June 2021). "State's witness refuses to testify against Dutch gangster and Kinahan ally Ridouan Taghi". Sunday World. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
Retrieved from ""