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Spain detains Mocro Maffia leader wanted by the Netherlands

Karim Bouyakhrichan was arrested along with five other suspected members of the Moroccan gang which is suspected of having bought 172 properties worth some €50 million to launder their gains from drug trafficking, police said.

Published: 25 January 2024 16:48 CET
Spain detains Mocro Maffia leader wanted by the Netherlands
Karim (pictured, centre) and the five other suspects who were arrested will go on trial in Spain and then sent to the Netherlands, where they are wanted for crimes carried out in that country. Screenshot: National Police

Spanish police said Thursday they had arrested a top member of the Mocro Maffia, a Moroccan organised crime group based in the Netherlands, suspected of leading a drug trafficking ring in southern Spain.

Karim is the brother of Samir Bouyakhrichan, another leading member of the Mocro Maffia who was assassinated in 2014 near Marbella, an upmarket tourist resort on Spain’s southern Costa del Sol.

That killing sparked a “reorganisation” of organised crime groups in the region which sparked a police investigations which ultimately led to the arrests, Daniel Vázquez, an officer with a Spanish police unit specialised in economic and tax crimes, told a news conference.

Karim, who is one of the most wanted criminals in the Netherlands, is suspected of leading a ring dedicated to “the international trafficking of narcotics on a large scale”, mainly by importing cocaine into Spain, police said in a statement.

The ring is believed to have had “a solid infrastructure” in place in several cities in Spain, as well as Morocco, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic and the United Arab Emirates to launder the money it made, the statement added.

READ ALSO: Why is Spain Europe’s cocaine gateway?

Police had been searching for Karim for five years. He was very difficult to track down because he moved from one country to another, had his own security service and was “very careful in his communications”.

Karim and the five other suspects who were arrested will go on trial in Spain and then sent to the Netherlands, where they are wanted for crimes carried out in that country.

The Mocro Mafia made international headlines in 2022 after it emerged that Dutch Crown Princess Amalia had been placed under heavy protection in response to fears of an attack by the group.

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CRIME

Spain seizes 11 tonnes of counterfeit football jerseys

Spanish police have seized over 11 tonnes of knock-off football team shirts in a crackdown on counterfeiting ahead of this weekend's Champions League final and the upcoming Euro 2024, they said Friday.

Published: 31 May 2024 12:49 CEST
Spain seizes 11 tonnes of counterfeit football jerseys

Officers found the jerseys of different Spanish football clubs and European national teams, along with counterfeit luxury watches, leather goods and electronic equipment, during searches of 15 heavy-duty trucks, police said in a statement.

“The counterfeits were destined for various organisations based in Spain, which intended to distribute them through street sales, social networks and websites,” the statement said.

Police said they seized over 46,000 counterfeit items — including over 36,500 jerseys — with a street value of more than €6 million ($6.5 million).

The operation, which is ongoing, began in April after Spain intercepted two tonnes of counterfeit football jerseys from China.

This led to the discovery that “a large shipment of counterfeit goods” was arriving in Spain “to be supplied to criminal organisations that intended to place counterfeit sports kits on the illicit market on the occasion of the Champions League final and Euro 2024.”

Real Madrid will seek to win Europe’s biggest club prize for a record 15th time when they take on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final on Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London.

Germany will host the 2024 European Championship finals from June 14 to July 14.

Counterfeits are a global phenomenon, whether for fashion, toys, electronics, food or pharmaceuticals, estimated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to represent 2.5 percent of world trade.

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