'If you talk, you die': Chilling rule imposed by Europe's most feared drug lord Ridouan Taghi to strike fear in to traitors as he's jailed for life for leading 'well-oiled murder machine' gang during Dutch narco war that saw beheadings and revenge killings

Europe's 'most feared drug lord' has been jailed for life by a Dutch court after an ultra-high security mafia mega trial.

The court convicted 17 suspects today in the long-running trial of an underworld gang that planned a string of killings, known as the Marengo Trial.

Judges handed life sentences to three of them, including the gang's 'undisputed leader,' Ridouan Taghi, once the Netherlands most-wanted fugitive, at a courthouse known as the 'Bunker'.

The trial and three more murders linked to the case have enthralled and rattled the Netherlands, exposing the deadly reality of the country's drug-fuelled criminal underworld.

The court heard that Taghi - alleged to be Europe's most feared and powerful drug lord - had a simple rule: 'If you talk, you die.' 

He rose through the ranks to become a cartel boss by smuggling record quantities of cocaine into Europe's ports and is said to be worth $1 billion (£789 million).

Prosecutors have insisted on life sentences for Taghi, 46, who pleaded not guilty, and five of his co-defendants, for their involvement in what they called a 'well-oiled murder machine.' 

Ridouan Taghi, who was once the Netherlands most-wanted fugitive, has been jailed for life

A secured car arrives at the extra-secure court for the verdict in the Marengo criminal case in Amsterdam, on Tuesday

Lawyers arrive at the extra-secure court for the verdict in the Marengo criminal case, in Amsterdam, on Tuesday

Taghi and several co-defendants did not attend the final day of their trial at a tightly guarded courthouse on the outskirts of the Dutch capital. 

Heavily armed police officers wearing body armour, helmets and ski masks patrolled streets around the court as cars carrying some of the defendants swept into an underground parking lot for the hearing. 

Taghi was convicted on five murder counts, including on a man called Hakim Changachi, who was gunned down in Utrecht in 2017 in what prosecutors say was a case of mistaken identity.

'Taghi ordered the hit' on another man who lived in the same block of flats as Changachi, the judge said.

'Taghi was responsible for the mistake,' the judge added.

'He decided who would be killed and spared no one,' the presiding judge said. 'The amount of suffering Taghi caused to the victims and their loved ones is barely imaginable.'

The court ruled that Taghi also used extreme violence to intimidate enemies and potential police informants.

'By doing so he prevented people from cooperating with the police. Such terror has a disruptive effect on society,' the presiding judge said. Court officials asked media not to identify the judges by name over security concerns.

At least three people directly connected to the mega six-year trial, named after a judicial codeword for the operation, have been assassinated. 

The brother of a key witness, identified only as Nabil B., his lawyer and a journalist who acted as a confidante for the witness were all killed in the nearly six years since the trial opened.

Lawyer Derk Wiersum was gunned down outside his home in Amsterdam on September 18, 2019. Two men have been convicted of murder in his killing.

Journalist Peter R. de Vries was also shot in Amsterdam as he walked to his car from a television studio on July 6, 2021. He died nine days later of his injuries. Prosecutors have sought life sentences for three of the suspects in his slaying.

De Vries acted as Nabil B.'s confidant at the time of his murder and had said before he was on Taghi's hit-list. 

At one point in the brutal narco battles, a severed head was placed outside a hangout used by rivals in a show of intimidation.

The wave of murders gave the already grim trial 'a pitch-black edge,' the presiding judge told a packed courtroom.

Taghi was convicted on five murder counts, including on a man called Hakim Changachi, (pictured) who was gunned down in Utrecht in 2017 in what prosecutors say was a case of mistaken identity 

Ronald Bakker, who was shot dead outside his home after the gang suspected that he had been co-operating with the police

Naima Jilal, who is also believed to be one of the victims of Taghi

The judge lamented that De Vries 'will never again sit in the press bench' at the court.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander called De Vries' shooting 'an attack on journalism, the cornerstone of our constitutional state and therefore also an attack on the rule of law.'

Taghi was one of the Netherlands' most-wanted men until he was arrested in Dubai in 2019 and flown home to face trial. He and other defendants were charged with involvement in six murders and four attempted murders.

Despite being held at an ultra-secure prison, prosecutors say he continued pulling the strings, sending secret messages to henchmen on the outside. 

Taghi's gang was nicknamed the 'Mocro-maffia' because its members are mainly of Moroccan and Antillean origin. 

The Public Prosecution Service alleged that the defendants were part of a 'completely unscrupulous murder organization, which has carelessly and indifferently killed people.' 

They said the fallout from the multiple slayings had 'not only been felt for the next of kin, but have also had after-effects more broadly in society.'

Lawyers for the suspects had sought their acquittal. The court rejected defense arguments that the trial was unfair and that the suspects had already been convicted in the court of public opinion.

The court ruled that testimony from Nabil B. was trustworthy and could be used as evidence. The witness himself was also on trial and was sentenced to 10 years, a sentence reduced due to his cooperation. 

Other suspects received sentences ranging from life imprisonment to just under two years behind bars.

Judges said the witness's testimony led to convictions in five murders that otherwise would not have been solved.

But after handing him a reduced sentence, the presiding judge added that he 'will have to live with the reality that you will always have to look over your shoulder.'

The court also accepted decrypted telephone messages as evidence in their verdicts. Lawyers for the suspects had argued that the evidence could not be used in the trial.

The convictions and sentences can be appealed.