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Join on Telegram Rabat – Security services in the Netherlands have put Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte under “police protection” after threats from the Mocro Maffia, a Dutch-Moroccan criminal network active in drug trafficking and money laundering in Europe.
Dutch news outlet De Telegraaf reports that the Dutch PM is no longer allowed to walk alone amid fears of a potential kidnapping attack by the Mocro Maffia.
The PM usually uses his bicycle to move in public.
The mafia group is known for drug trafficking and murder in the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium, as well as across Europe.
News outlet RTL suggested that the Dutch PM is under threats due to his promise to crack down on drug trafficking and organized crime networks in general.
The news made international headlines as the Mocro Maffia or Mocro Mafia is linked to several high-profile criminal investigations.
One of the notorious, much-reported cases involving the group was the murder of investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries, who was shot on July 6 this year.
The urder made international headlines, and Dutch media suggested that Vries was killed at the request of Ridouane Taghi, the leader of the Mocro Mafia.
Taghi, who had long been on most governments’ wanted list for numerous murders and leading the Mocro Mafia, was arrested in Dubai in 2019. Moroccan intelligence services are believed to have provided data that helped Dubai police to arrest Taghi.
Following the arrest, Dutch security officials thanked Morocco and the UAE for their help to apprehend and neutralize the notorious criminal leader.
Taghi was also wanted in Morocco, on suspicion he was behind the Cafe La Cremes shooting in November 2017.
Morocco believes that Taghi ordered the attack in Marrakech, where gunmen shot and killed a medical student and injured his classmate
Members of the mafia opened fire at the cafe before fleeing the scene. Reports later established that the medical students were not the targets of the mafia members.
The Mocro Maffia-affiliated gunmen were reportedly after the cafe’s owner, Mustafa, also known as Moes.
Moes is also allegedly involved in drug operations and is said to have stolen €27 million from Taghi.
