Netherlands: Life imprisonment for Ridouane Taghi, the alleged mastermind of the Mokro Mafia drug cartel.

“We condemn all suspects. Ridouane Taghi will receive life imprisonment,” said an Amsterdam court judge following a trial of unprecedented scale. The Netherlands’ most dangerous drug lord was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for a series of murders carried out by his gang that shocked the country.

Ridouane Taghi, 46, born in Morocco and raised in the Netherlands, is believed to be the mastermind of a drug cartel nicknamed the Wet Mafia, an organization the prosecution calls a “well-oiled killing machine.”

Justice said Ridouane Taghi, who has always denied the charges, was the “undisputed leader” of the “murderous organization” and resorted to “extreme violence to intimidate people.” “He decided who to kill and spared no one,” said the judge, who was not named for security reasons.

The nearly six-year trial, which observers said was unprecedented in its scale in the Netherlands, took place amid tight security. At least three people involved in this case were killed.

Sixteen other suspects were sentenced to prison terms ranging from life imprisonment to one year and nine months. “We can be proud of the rule of law because despite everything that has happened, despite the fact that this case lasted six years, today there are 17 convictions,” a prosecution member told AFP.

The lawyer for one of the suspects, Said R., said his client would appeal the life sentence.

Army mobilized for trial

Riduan Taghi, once the Netherlands’ most wanted fugitive, was arrested in Dubai in 2019 and held in a high-security Dutch prison. Despite this, he continued to lead his gang, passing messages to his associates outside, according to the prosecution.

Heavily armed police patrolled the courthouse, commonly known as “The Bunker”, on the outskirts of Amsterdam on Tuesday. During the trial, the army was mobilized to guard the premises, and unidentified prosecutors and judges arrived there in armored vehicles.

The suspects were on trial for crimes committed between 2015 and 2017, mostly against people the gang suspected of becoming police informants. Three murders that occurred during the trial are the subject of separate proceedings.

The defendants were found guilty of six murders, four attempted murders and planning other murders.

The murder of one of the victims, Hakim Changachi, in 2017 in Utrecht (centre) is considered a mistake. Shortly thereafter, Nabil B., then a gang member, contacted the police and agreed to act as a witness for the prosecution. Then a new wave of violence follows. Three people associated with Nabil B. have been killed: his brother in 2018, his lawyer in 2019, and prominent journalist Peter R. de Vries, considered his confidant, in 2021.

On Tuesday, the court noted that none of the victim’s relatives dared to testify at trial about the suffering he suffered.

One of the largest cocaine distributors in the Netherlands.

Ridouane Taghi is considered the mastermind of an international organized crime organization whose roots are partly in the Benelux and which is commonly called the “Wet Mafia” due to the Moroccan origin of some of its members.

The term actually refers to a group of criminal gangs that are considered to be some of the largest distributors of cocaine in the Netherlands.

None of the suspects made any statements during the trial, which was slowed by several twists and turns. Ridouane Taghi’s then-lawyer Ines Veski was arrested in April 2023 on suspicion of helping her client communicate with the outside world. The new lawyers resigned, saying they were not given enough time to prepare. Then the alleged drug lord decided to defend himself.

The prosecution materials totaled more than 800 pages with the testimony of Nabil B., who received a ten-year prison sentence, and conversations on encrypted telephones.

“When we read the messages in the file, we find ourselves in a world where human life has no value,” the judge said.