The Netherlands’ most notorious drug lord received a life sentence on Tuesday for a series of murders committed between 2015 and 2017.
Ridouan Taghi, 46, originally from Morocco but raised in the Netherlands, is believed to be the brains behind the drug cartel known as the “Mocro Mafia”.
The verdict came nearly six years after the start of the high-security trial, where heavily armed police have regularly patrolled the courthouse referred to as "The Bunker" in Amsterdam.
The Marengo case is seen as unprecedented in Dutch history, Belga News Agency reports. In the ruling, the judge stated: "We condemn all suspects. Ridouan Taghi gets life in prison."
The 17 men on trial were accused of six murders, and four attempted murders and were planning further assassinations. All received prison sentences, with any time spent on remand deducted.
Beyond Taghi, two other defendants, identified as Mario R. and Saïd R., also received life sentences. Saïd R has already stated his intention to appeal via his lawyer.
While several defendants were present to hear the verdict, Taghi was not. "You’ve had to wait a long time for the verdict, but the same is true for the relatives of the victims," stated the judge.
Three people connected to the prosecution witness Nabil B., a former gang member, were assassinated during the trial. The murders of his brother in 2018, his lawyer Derk Wiersum in 2019 and renowned journalist Peter R. de Vries in 2021 have cast a heavy pall over the proceedings, according to the judge.
De Vries was one of the Netherlands' leading crime reporters, and had provided support to the key witness. He was assassinated in broad daylight as he left the television studios of RTL Boulevard in the centre of Amsterdam in July 2021.
These three murders are, however, subject to a separate legal procedure. Tuesday’s verdict focused on crimes committed between 2015 and 2017, primarily targeting individuals suspected by the gang of being police informers.
The murder of a man named Hakim Changachi in Utrecht in 2017 was deemed a case of mistaken identity by the prosecutors. The actual target of the attack was Khalid H., a man who lived in the same apartment building.
Soon after, Nabil B. surrendered to the police because he felt remorse over the killing of the wrong person, and agreed to become a witness for the prosecution. This helped him receive a reduced 10-year prison sentence.
Dubai criminal haven
Taghi was arrested in Dubai in 2019 and held in a high-security Dutch prison, where he still managed to communicate with fellow gang members outside, prosecutors claim. He is viewed as the mastermind of an international organised crime organisation, partially rooted in the Benelux countries, colloquially known as the “Mocro Mafia” due to several members’ Moroccan origins.
This term actually refers to a range of criminal groups considered some of the Netherlands’ biggest cocaine distributors, with various in Antwerp and Brussels. According to the court, Taghi, who has consistently denied the charges, was the uncontested leader of this criminal organisation and was known for using extreme violence to intimidate people.
None of the suspects made a statement during the trial, which was slowed down by several twists and turns.
The defence was fraught with issues as well. Taghi’s then-lawyer, Inez Weski, was arrested in April 2023, suspected of assisting her client in communicating with the outside world.
The new lawyers resigned, claiming inadequate time for preparation, leading Taghi to represent himself. The over 800-page prosecution case included incriminating evidence from Nabil B. and encrypted phone conversations.
"When you read the messages in the file, you find yourself in a world where human life has no value," remarked the judge. The court also noted that no relatives of the victims dared to testify about the suffering inflicted upon them.
