Ridouan Taghi’s cousin arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking

Anouar T., the nephew of top criminal Ridouan Taghi, has been arrested by the National Criminal Investigation Department. That reports The Telegraph Saturday. A spokesman for the National Criminal Investigation Department confirms that a 29-year-old man from Utrecht was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking on Friday, but does not want to say whether it concerns Taghi’s cousin.

The 29-year-old Anouar was previously suspected of involvement in the murder of lawyer Derk Wiersum, but was released by the Amsterdam court pending trial. The Telegraph writes that T. is suspected of drug trafficking, but that his arrest – just like that of Inez Weski – is part of a strategy by the National Criminal Investigation Department to dismantle the criminal power structure around Ridouan Taghi, the so-called ‘Approach to Criminal Power Structures’.

Read also: Inez Weski already suspected that something was afoot

On Friday it was announced that Inez Weski, lawyer of Ridouan Taghi, has been arrested. According to the Public Prosecution Service, Weski is suspected of participating in a criminal organization involved in international drug trafficking and money laundering. She is also suspected of having forwarded messages to and from her client Taghi.

Anouar T. used to belong to the ‘Audi gang’: a notorious group of about 250 criminals from Utrecht and Amsterdam who were guilty of explosive raids, especially in Germany. After these explosive attacks, the gang members then drove back to the Netherlands in fast Audis. In March 2016, T. was in a getaway car that, after an explosion in Meppen, Germany, went out of control and crashed into a tree. T. managed to escape, but was later arrested. In June that year, he was sentenced to four years in prison.

Read also: Anouar Taghi feels like a prisoner of war in Iraq

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