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Post by pieter on Mar 22, 2021 16:03:06 GMT -7
 March 22, 2021Heavy security at Amsterdam’s Bunker as ‘Marengo’ gangland murder trial begins Heavy security surrounded the Bunker courthouse. Photo: ANP/Robin van LonkhuijsenOne of the biggest murder trials in the history of the Netherlands is getting under way under tight security on Monday morning.
Two helicopters, armed police in bulletproof vests and a fleet of armoured vehicles thronged the fortified courthouse in Amsterdam known as the Bunker on the opening day of the so-called Marengo trial.
The best known of the 17 suspects is Ridouan Taghi, 43, for several years the Netherlands’ most wanted man, who is accused of ordering six assassinations between 2015 and 2017 in the so-called ‘Mocro mafia’ drugs war.
He is also suspected of ordering the murder of Amsterdam-based lawyer Derk Wiersum in September 2019, though that killing is not part of the Marengo trial. Wiersum was acting for Nabil B., one of the key witnesses in the case against Taghi.
Taghi has been detained at the high-security jail in Vught since December 2019, when he was deported from Dubai after being arrested at a private villa where he was living with his wife and six children. Ridouan Taghi on a photo issued by the policeAt the time Dubai police chief Abdullah Khalifa Al Merri described him as ‘one of the world’s most dangerous and wanted men … listed on Interpol for his connections to serious organised crime.’
The first day of the trial proceedings will focus on the testimony of Nabil B., who agreed to co-operate with authorities after he was involved in a mistaken identity murder in January 2017. The victim, Hakim Changachi, was wrongly targeted instead of an Utrecht criminal and B., who arranged the getaway car, admitted his involvement to Changachi’s family.
His confession angered his associates in Taghi’s gang and B. agreed to testify against them in exchange for protection for him and his family. His brother, Redouan B., was shot dead at his office in Amsterdam in April 2018 by a hitman posing as a job applicant.  Heavily armed Dutch police men at one of the biggest murder trials in the history of the Netherlands The 17 defendants on trial are suspected of planning a total of 13 gangland murders, of which six were carried out.
Saïd Razzouki, who is accused of being Taghi’s second in command, was arrested in Colombia in February last year and is awaiting extradition. He is being tried in absentia. Security operation around Marengo criminal trial is largest ever in the history of the Netherlands. |
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Post by pieter on Mar 22, 2021 16:04:48 GMT -7
The images of the day
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Post by pieter on Mar 22, 2021 16:13:00 GMT -7
Ridouan Taghi Ridouan Taghi (born 20 December 1977) 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. Until his late 2019 arrest in Dubai, Taghi was the most wanted criminal in the Netherlands with a record-breaking reward of €100,000.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. The latter was considered an attack on the Dutch legal system.
Documents produced by The United States' Drug Enforcement Agency, the DEA, were 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 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 cocaine trade in all of Europe. Yet, according to the DEA documents, the destination for all the drugs shipments would be the Dutch ports.
Taghi managed to evade capture by constantly altering his appearance and using false passports and visas. 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 a 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 2021.
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Post by pieter on Mar 22, 2021 16:23:35 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 22, 2021 16:27:11 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 22, 2021 16:34:14 GMT -7
Arrest Saïd Razzouki in ColombiaSaïd Razzouki is a member of the so-called Mocro Mafia, a gang of Moroccan-Dutch criminals. As of 8 February 2020, he is thought to be the adjutant of Ridouan Taghi. As of 8 February 2020, he is suspected of involvement in several murders. One of these was the murder of Derk Wiersum. The Netherlands offered €100,000 ($110,000 at that time) for information on his whereabouts, an amount equal to that got information on his boss Taghi. This was the highest amount ever offered by the Dutch government for such information.
After fleeing to Colombia, where he managed to hid for multiple years and enjoyed the protection of the cartel Clan del Golfo, he was arrested by a combined effort of FBI, DEA and Colombian police forces. Razzouki was the last free one of the Mocro Mafia’s leaders.The murder of the Dutch lawjer Derk WiersumIn the morning of 18 September 2019, Dutch lawyer Derk Wiersum was shot and killed near his home in Amsterdam. At the time of his death, Wiersum was the lawyer of state witness Nabil Bakkali in the Marengo case against the Mocro Maffia led by Ridouan Taghi. The murder caused a great shock in the world of lawyers; it was called "an attack on the rule of law".en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Derk_Wiersum
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Post by pieter on Mar 22, 2021 16:55:48 GMT -7
Out of the Netherlands' substantial Moroccan community grew criminal gangs mostly involved in the trafficking of marihuana. This is due to the ties of some families to their area of origin, the Rif, which is a known hub of marihuana/hashish cultivating. Certain criminals have also progressed to the trafficking of cocaine. Armed robbery and prostitution are known activities of the Dutch Moroccan groups as well, called the Mocro Maffia.
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