Life and death: the biggest Dutch criminal trial explained - DutchNews.nl (2024)

On Tuesday, February 27, judges in the Marengo trial – a mega process involving 17 defendants, six murders, and the alleged leaders of one of the most violent criminal gangs in Dutch history – will issue their verdict. Here’s what you need to know.

The 2019 extradition of Ridouan Taghi from the United Arab Emirates to the Netherlands kicked off one of the largest trials in Dutch history. The case file has now cleared 100,000 pages, larger than the size of the MH17 trial.

Taghi – once the Netherlands most wanted man – is accused of running one of the largest drug trafficking operations in Europe. Together with 16 other defendants, the 46-year-old is charged with six “liquidations” as gangland killings are known in Dutch, plus four attempted murders, planning other attacks and being a member of a criminal organisation.

Who is on trial?

Ridouan Taghi was born in Morocco and moved with his family to the Netherlands at a young age. He grew up in Vianen, near Utrecht, and became involved with the Bad Boys, a youth gang operating in and around Utrecht. In 1992, he was first arrested for burglary and weapons possession.

Said Razzouki, Taghi’s alleged right-hand man, was also born in Morocco and also moved to the Netherlands at an early age. According to prosecutors, he worked closely with Nabil Bakkali to organise many of the murders.

Nabil Bakkali was born in the Netherlands to parents of Moroccan descent. He reportedly used to play chess with Taghi, who eventually offered him a job as a lookout. Following a botched murder, Bakkali turned himself into the police and became a crown witness. He faces 10 years in jail.

Mohamed Razzouki, the brother of Said Razzouki, is another of the six defendants facing a life sentence for, among other things, the murder of Hakim Changachi. Changachi, the member of another crime family, was killed in a case of mistaken identity.

Achraf B., and brothers Mario R. and Mao R. are also facing life sentences. The remaining men are facing sentences of between nearly six and 27 years.

How did Marengo begin?

Taghi was known to the Spanish authorities since at least 2003 when he was suspected of stabbing an Interpol agent.

In 2009, cannabis cafe owner Said Faggouss was kidnapped in Amsterdam. Held in Belgium for four months, he was tortured before he managed to free himself and escape. He reported the kidnapping to the police, who arrest several men, including a drug dealer named Ebrahim Buzhu.

Eventually, four men were convicted of the kidnapping, but the charges against Buzhu were dropped. Faggouss was a close friend of Taghi and Buzhu went into hiding, fearful Taghi will have him killed.

In June 2015, Buzhu, whose nickname is The Butcher because his father ran a halaal butcher shop in Amsterdam, realised his safe house in Belgium had been compromised and turned himself into the National Criminal Investigation Department in Driebergen, telling the authorities he feared a man named Ridouan Taghi was out to get him.

A month later, during an investigation into car theft in Rotterdam, police discovered the largest cache of weapons ever found in the Netherlands in storage boxes in Nieuwegein. While looking into the weapons cache, police discovered that several of the suspects had purchased spy gear from a shop in the same town.

The killings begin

The store, compelled by the police, turned over its transaction records. In September, Ronald Bakker, an employee at the spy shop, was shot and killed in front of his home. His wife, who had a broken leg, was sitting on the couch in the living room and watches her husband die. According to prosecutors, Taghi’s men regularly purchased gear from the shop and Taghi saw Bakker’s cooperation with the police as a betrayal.

Life and death: the biggest Dutch criminal trial explained - DutchNews.nl (1)

Allegedly, Taghi also ordered the shop to be attacked, although that never comes to fruition. The planning, which involved shooting at the building with a bazooka, is also included in the charges of the Marengo trial.

Over the course of the next year, prosecutors say Taghi ordered nearly 10 more murders, all business associates, witnesses to crimes or rivals. Two people who were cooperating with the investigation into the weapons cache were killed.

In April 2016, Canadian and Dutch police seized servers connected to a Dutch telecoms company, Ennetcom. The company, owned by Danny M Manupassa, sells secure phones, mostly to criminals. The police announced in 2017 they had gained access to 3.6 million encrypted messages from the servers.

A month later, in January 2017, Hakim Changachi was killed, possibly in a case of mistaken identity. Changachi’s family, some of whom are also allegedly involved in the criminal underworld, wanted revenge. Bakkali, afraid either Taghi or the Changachi family would kill him, turned himself in to the police.

A week after he begins to cooperate with the police, Bakkali’s brother Redouan – who ran a printing shop and had no connection to criminal activities – was shot and killed by someone who turned up for a job interview.

The text messages and Bakkali’s testimony make up the bulk of the evidence in the Marengo trial.

Beyond Marengo

In 2018, the first preliminary hearings began in the Maregno trial. Both Taghi and Said Razzouki were then still at large. In June, an attempt was made to firebomb the Telegraaf newspaper offices, and police said they suspected Taghi was behind the attack.

In September, Derk Wiersum, the lawyer for the crowd witness Bakkali, was gunned down outside his home.

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A month later, the public prosecution service offered a €100,000 reward for information leading to Tahgi and Razzouki’s arrest. It was the largest reward in Dutch history to date. Taghi later complained the reward was too small, accusing the Dutch authorities of being “Calvinistic.”

In 2021, famed Dutch criminal journalist Peter R. de Vries was gunned down in Amsterdam. He had been assisting Bakkali during the trial and authorities believe Taghi ordered the killing.

The murders of Redouan Bakkali, Derk Wiersum and Peter R. de Vries are not included in the Marengo trial, which has already been dubbed a “mega-process” by the Dutch media, and are being prosecuted separately. The verdict in the De Vries case is due in June. Last year, two men were jailed for 30 years for killing Wiersum.

The data from the encrypted chats and the investigations into Taghi have resulted in dozens of other trials.

Taghi’s arrest and extradition

In 2017, a 26-year-old medical student and son of a prominent judge, Hamza Chaib, was gunned down in a cafe in Morocco. It was another case of mistaken identity. The intended target was a business rival of Taghi.

By then Taghi had been living in Morocco for several years, using his homeland as his base of operations to import cocaine from South America into Europe. Afraid the Moroccan authorities may arrest him for the botched murder, he moved to the United Arab Emirates.

Following pressure by the king of Morocco, a friend of the judge whose son was killed, the Emirati authorities arrested Taghi in 2019 and agreed to send him not to Morocco but to the Netherlands.

Two years later, Razzouki was arrested in Colombia and joined his childhood friend in a Dutch high-security prison.

The mega trial

In March 2021, the Marengo trial officially began. The dossier is the largest in Dutch history, running to a whopping 100,000 pages.

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More than a year in, Youssef Taghi, Ridouan Taghi’s cousin and member of his defense team, was arrested for helping his client run the criminal enterprise behind bars. During his trial in 2022, he told judges he had no choice but to help his cousin. “You don’t say no to Taghi,” he told the court.

In February 2023, Taghi’s lead counsel, Inez Weski, finished her final arguments. She told the judges her client had not received a fair trial and says he looks like “a captive deer” after years of restrictions in jail.

Three months later, Weski – a prominent Dutch criminal lawyer known for her dark eyeliner – was herself arrested for helping Taghi. Court watchers in the country were shocked and many people wonder if she herself has been threatened. Citing attorney-client privilege, she has refused to speak to investigators.

Initially unable to find anyone to represent him, Taghi informed the judges via a handwritten note that he intended to represent himself. Taghi ultimately retained counsel and pleadings for the other defendants finished in July 2023.

Taghi’s new defense team requested a nine-month extension to familiarise themselves with the case file but were refused. Then, in December last year, Taghi’s new counsel resigned, saying they were unable to mount a proper defence for their client.

On Tuesday, judges at the high security court will announce their verdicts, almost six years after the legal process started. The verdicts will end the first round – but appeals are inevitable.

“But one thing is certain,” the Parool said in its coverage of the trial, “the poisonous Marengo process has changed the Netherlands for ever”.

Life and death: the biggest Dutch criminal trial explained - DutchNews.nl (2024)

FAQs

How rich was Ridouan Taghi? ›

Taghi, 46, is said to be worth $1 billion (£789 million), with a share in the control of a third of all cocaine smuggled into European ports. Taghi had denied six gangland slayings, as well as another four attempted murders and the planning of more attacks between 2015 and 2017, during a brutal gang war.

Who is the most famous Dutch criminal? ›

Willem Frederik Holleeder (born 29 May 1958) is a Dutch gangster, outlaw biker and convicted criminal. He is nicknamed De Neus (The Nose) because of the size of his nose.

Where is Ridouan Taghi now? ›

Ridouan Taghi (born 20 December 1977) is a convicted Moroccan-Dutch criminal who became a prime suspect in at least ten murders related to organised crime, drug trafficking and leading a criminal organisation. On February 27, 2024, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

How long will Ridouan Taghi serve? ›

A Dutch court sentenced drug trafficking pioneer Ridouan Taghi to a lifelong prison sentence. Despite Taghi's role in creating a global network to import drugs, his conviction will have little effect on the cocaine pipeline into Europe.

What is the most common crime in the Netherlands? ›

Main types of crime in the Netherlands

The highest incidence were thefts from cars, bike thefts, housebreaking, shoplifting and pick-pocketing.

Who is the most wanted man in Holland? ›

List with Most wanted
  • Jos Leijdekkers. Latest update: 14-03-2023.
  • Fahd el Kandoussi. Latest update: 10-01-2023.
  • Mohammed Najib Kajdouh. Latest update: 10-01-2023.
  • Sharif Korz. Zwolle. ...
  • Ahmed Ezzat. Latest update: 13-06-2022.
  • Fathi Atiya. Latest update: 06-06-2022.
  • Mohamed Nyabi. ...
  • Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy (Khmuriy)

What is the most criminal city in the Netherlands? ›

Assuming you are refering to crime when asking about danger, Amsterdam is still the most dangerous city of both Hollands but also of the Netherlands as a whole. The vast majority of crimes are not violent crimes in the Netherlands but consists of traffic crimes and thefts.

Who was the richest person in Greece? ›

The richest person in Greece is Maria Angelicoussis, with a net worth of 6.39 billion. What is the primary industry of the majority of billionaires in the top list of billionaires in Greece? The majority of billionaires in the top list of Greece are from the Logistics industry.

Who was the richest person in Japan? ›

Tadashi Yanai is ranked 1st on our list of the wealthiest people in Japan. He is the founder and CEO of the retail clothing company, Fast Retailing which owns the Uniqlo chain. In 2023, the company reported a net profit of $2 billion on revenue of $19 billion. It has around 2,500 stores in 25 countries.

Who was the richest person in Italy? ›

Top Billionaires in Italy with Net Worth

Giovanni Ferrero, leads as the 1st in Italy, with $44.28B in Food & Beverage sector. Followed by Giorgio Armani, 2nd in Italy, making waves in Fashion & Retail at 153th globally, and Piero Ferrari, 3rd in Italy, contributing significantly to Automotive at 238th globally.

Who was the richest man in Germany? ›

Klaus-Michael Kuehne, leads as the 1st in Germany, with $41.31B in Logistics sector. Followed by Dieter Schwarz, 2nd in Germany, making waves in Fashion & Retail at 44th globally, and Reinhold Wuerth & family, 3rd in Germany, contributing significantly to Manufacturing at 45th globally.

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