Antwerp drug lord Othman El Ballouti is being extradited to Belgium this Sunday after his arrest in the United Arab Emirates, reliable sources have informed the Belga News Agency.
Earlier this week, the Gazet van Antwerpen reported that the UAE had extradited another drug lord, identified as Mohamed A., believed to be the right-hand man of another trafficker, Youssef Ben Azza, who currently resides in Morocco.
Now, the extradition list has grown to include Othman El Ballouti. It is possible that other drug traffickers are on the same flight to Melsbroek military airport. According to the Gazet van Antwerpen, two other suspects, Giorgi F. and Mathias A., are likely to be extradited to Belgium as well.
In September 2024, Othman El Ballouti was convicted in absentia and sentenced to seven years in prison for importing 840 kg of cocaine through the Port of Antwerp. His name is also linked to a case involving an 11-tonne seizure in 2021.
He was arrested in Dubai at the end of 2024 following intelligence gathered from the hacking of the Sky ECC messaging platform, which uncovered global drug trafficking networks, including those involving dozens of Antwerp traffickers. Othman El Ballouti is also the uncle of Firdaous, an 11-year-old who was fatally shot in January 2023 during a targeted attack in Merksem, Antwerp.
No further information has been released by the federal police or Antwerp’s court authority.
In 2021, Belgium signed an extradition agreement with the United Arab Emirates. The federal prosecutor’s office explained that key figures in drug trafficking sought refuge in the UAE due to the lack of an extradition treaty with Belgium at that time.
