It’s a ruckus that has set off alarm bells (again) in the Netherlands. The leader of the “Mocro Maffia” cartel, Karim Bouyakhrichan, was arrested in Marbella last January, five years after the start of a major operation that investigated money laundering crimes. But one of Interpol’s most wanted criminals has also made headlines in recent years for plotting to kidnap and murder the heir to the throne of the Netherlands, Princess Catharina-Amalia, and also Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Arriving in April, Cadena Ser reveals how this gangster escaped from prison in Spain thanks to a lack of judicial coordination.
Politico explains how Dutch authorities submitted an extradition request to Spain’s National Court when they learned of Bouyakhrichan’s arrest, hoping that the gang leader would return to the Netherlands to face charges related to his drug trafficking empire. The request would have received the green light from Judge Ismael Moreno, of the National Court of Madrid, however the Provincial Court of Malaga, which has jurisdiction in the area where Karim was detained, argued that the detainee should face the charges against him in Spanish soil. , before being extradited to another country. The appeal of the Dutch authorities, who presented a new urgent request highlighting the risk associated with this case, was of little use.
This Tuesday, Cadena SER radio also stated that, although the National Court accepted the Dutch appeal, it did not issue the arrest warrant that would have guaranteed that Bouyakhrichan would remain behind bars until the extradition was carried out. The gangster remained in preventive detention by order of the Investigative Court number 4 of Marbella for barely a month and a half, until, to the surprise of the investigators, he was released with precautionary measures, including the withdrawal of his passport, the obligation to appear every 15 days before the court and the payment of a bond of 50 thousand euros. According to Europa Press, which had access to an order dated February 22, it was the Provincial Court of Malaga that released the leader of the Mocro mafia, against the criteria of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and despite recognizing that there was a risk of escape. .
Karim’s whereabouts have been unknown since early April. An arrest warrant issued by Judge Ismael Moreno now weighs on him.
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The threats against Princess Catharina-Amalia date back to at least 2022, when the young woman was forced to leave the student residence where she lived and return to the royal palace in The Hague, after the police confirmed the existence of strong evidence of that Bouyakhrichan was planning to kidnap or assassinate the heir to the throne. The young woman, who is now 20 years old, left Amsterdam to secretly spend a stay (duly escorted) in Madrid, where she was welcomed by Kings Felipe and Letizia, to be able to live as normal a life as possible. A gesture that recently motivated public gratitude from her parents, Willem-Alexander and Máxima, who highlighted the bond that unites them with the Spanish Royal House.
As for Mark Rutte, he is one more name on the list of possible targets of “Mocro” (this is what young immigrants of Moroccan descent call each other, a slang that has existed at least since the 90s and that takes on a derogatory tone). . Rutte will be under the group’s sights at least from 2021, according to the RTL news agency due to his promise to put an end to drug trafficking and organized crime networks in general.
Two Dutch journalists, Martijn Schrijver and Wouter Laumans, wrote the best seller “Mocro Maffia”, later adapted into a highly successful television series in the Netherlands, where it was compared to “Narcos” (Netflix, 2015), the series that tells the life of Pablo Escobar. Once a haven for soft drugs, thanks to legislation that facilitated the consumption of hashish when it was not legal in other countries, the final months of 2022 nevertheless pointed to an escalation of terror, including cocaine networks, the murder of whistleblowers and journalists and even the threats that reach the country’s leadership. One of the most reported cases in 2021 was the murder of investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries, shot on July 6 of that year.
According to the AFP agency, Karim Bouyakhrichan was arrested along with five other suspects of being part of the organized crime group based in the Netherlands, which leads a drug trafficking network in southern Spain. The group is suspected of purchasing 172 properties worth around €50 million to launder profits from trafficking. Karim is the brother of Samir Bouyakhrichan, another of the main members of the Mocro Maffia, murdered in 2014 near Marbella.
Last February, Ridouan Taghi, another prominent member of the gang, was sentenced to life in prison for crimes committed between 2015 and 2017.
Source: Observadora
