Ridouan Taghi
Ridouan Taghi | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 20, 1977 Beni Selmane, Morocco |
| Nationality | Moroccan, Dutch |
| Occupation | Criminal |
| Criminal charge(s) | Murder, drug trafficking |
Ridouan Taghi (born 20 December 1977)[1] is a Moroccan-Dutch suspect. He is currently held at Nieuw Vosseveld, a maximum security prison in Vught, for suspected involvement in at least ten murders related to organised crime, as well as for his involvement in drug trafficking and the leading of 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]
Accusations
Taghi's suspected crimes include the murder of Redouan B. (brother of crown witness Nabil B.) and of Nabil B.'s lawyer, Derk Wiersum.[6][7] The latter was considered an attack on the Dutch legal system.[8]
DEA documents sent to the Dutch police exposed what would be a super drug cartel headed by Ridouan Taghi, Raffaele Imperiale (Camorra's drugs and arms dealer), Daniel Kinahan (Irish drug trafficker) and Edin G. (Bosnian drug trafficker). The group was observed by the DEA having meetings in the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, where is the base of the alleged cartel. 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 a virtually monopoly of the Peruvian cocaine and would control around a third of the cocaine trade in Europe. Yet, according to the DEA documents, the destination for all the drugs shipments would be the Dutch ports.[9][10][11]
Taghi managed to evade capture by constantly altering his appearance and using false passports and visas.[12] He was arrested in Dubai on 16 December 2019. As the Netherlands does not have an extradition treaty with Dubai, Taghi was deported three days after his arrest; based on him being declared as persona non grata by the emirate, as he had entered it under a false identity. He is being held at Nieuw Vosseveld in Vught, waiting for his trial in 2020.[13]
References
- ^ "Tijdlijn: zo loopt het criminele pad van Ridouan Taghi". Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Ridouan Taghi, alleged 'Angels of Death' boss, arrested in Dubai". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ ANP (2019-12-16). "Dit is de lange lijst van beschuldigingen tegen Ridouan Taghi". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ "Tijdlijn: zo loopt het criminele pad van Ridouan Taghi". Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Recordbeloning van 100.000 euro voor opsporing criminelen Taghi en Razzouki". Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "PROSECUTOR TO KEEP USING KEY WITNESSES AFTER LAWYER'S MURDER". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ France-Presse, Agence (2019-12-16). "Dubai police arrest Netherlands' most wanted man". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ "PROSECUTOR TO KEEP USING KEY WITNESSES AFTER LAWYER'S MURDER". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ "Taghi part of "super cartel" controlling third of EU cocaine trafficking: report". NL Times. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
- ^ "Bundelen cokekartels de krachten in Dubai?" (in Dutch).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Werkt Ridouan Taghi samen met deze drugshandelaren?" (in Dutch).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Zo pakte de politie Ridouan Taghi (This is how the police captured Taghi)". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ "Ridouan Taghi deported to the Netherlands". NL Times. Retrieved 24 December 2019.