Jailing of Europe's most powerful drugs baron Ridouan Taghi whose murderous 'Mocro-mafia' gang terrorised the Netherlands for years will NOT be enough to disrupt cocaine flow from South America to Europe and UK, experts warn

Experts have warned the life sentence imposed on one of Europe's most powerful drug lords will not be enough to disrupt the flow of cocaine from South America. 

Yesterday, a Dutch court handed a life sentence to Ridouan Taghi, the 'undisputed leader' of a mafia-style mega gang that terrorised the Netherlands and killed a witness to the so-called Marengo Trial, as well as a lawyer and a journalist over the last six years. 

Taghi, the 46-year-old drug baron who was reportedly worth $1 billion (£789 million) after rising his way through the ranks of the feared 'Mocro Mafia' by smuggling huge quantities of cocaine into Europe from South America, was among 17 people convicted in the Netherlands' largest and most complex drug trial in its history. 

But experts have said that the arrests will do little to curtail the overall drugs trade between South America and Europe. 

Sven Brinkhoff, a professor of criminal law at the University of Amsterdam, told the Times that the gang 'brought fear into this system', adding that he does not believe the guilty verdicts would be enough to counter the unwanted but growing reputation of the Netherlands as a 'narco state.' 

Ridouan Taghi (pictured) was handed a life sentence by a Dutch court 

He is worth $1 billion (£789 million) after rising his way through the ranks of the feared 'Mocro Mafia' by smuggling huge quantities of cocaine into Europe

Policemen stand guard at the extra-secure court, prior to the verdict in the Marengo criminal case

Experts said the conclusion of the case would not disrupt the flow of drugs into Europe

'One thing we know for sure is that the underlying cocaine trafficking will continue, and that's an uncomfortable truth,' he added.

This unwanted reputation has begun to worry those in positions in power. Early last month the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, urged other politicians to fight the drugs trade quickly in an opinion piece published in the Guardian. 

She wrote: 'In the past decade, the port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe, has become a global transit hub for cocaine. 

'The Dutch authorities have increased their efforts to combat drug trafficking, but they have not turned the tide. 

'Recent figures show a record increase in the amount of cocaine being seized, from just over 22,000kg in the first half of 2022 to 29,702kg in the first half of 2023. 

'While this may seem encouraging at first glance, it actually illustrates the immense scale of what is happening. 

'Our current approach in the fight against drugs is like mopping with the tap running.' 

The trial, which took place over the last six years, as well as 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.

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

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

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.' 

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.' 

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.'

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 

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

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

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.

Saïd Razzouki (Pictured) Ridouan Taghi's right-hand man and fugitive leader in the Mocro-Mafia

The trial, which took place over the last six years, as well as three more murders linked to the case have enthralled and rattled the Netherlands

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.

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.'

security staff stands guard outside the court bunker in Amsterdam-Osdorp before a hearing in the Marengo criminal case

The court delivered the verdict yesterday 

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.