Spanish police announced Thursday the arrest of a baron of the
“
Mocro Maffia
”
, a criminal organization of Moroccan origin established in the Netherlands, accused of having led a drug trafficking network having acquired at least 172 properties in southern Spain.
“We managed to arrest the leader of a Mocro Maffia clan, which was a priority target for the Netherlands and the
Spanish police,” Fernando Alonso, head of the Unit, said at a press conference. for the fight against economic and tax crime (UDEF).
Police sources identified the arrested man as Karim Bouyakhrichan, brother of Samir, also a member of the Mocro Maffia.
Nicknamed
“Scarface”
because of a scar under his right eye, the latter was killed in 2014 near Marbella, in southern Spain.
According to Daniel Vázquez, chief inspector of the UDEF, this murder led to a
“reorganization of the clans”
in this region and triggered the police investigation which led to the arrest of Karim Bouyakhrichan.
6 million euros laundered
Five other members of the network were also arrested during the operation, including
"the mastermind of the money laundering structure"
, according to Daniel Vázquez, who clarified that the investigation was still ongoing and did not rule out others. arrests.
Karim Bouyakhrichan, currently in pre-trial detention, was according to the police at the head of a network dedicated to
“large-scale international drug trafficking”
, mainly cocaine which he introduced into Spain, but also
“money laundering »
.
This network would have laundered a total of
“6 million euros”
thanks to
“a solid infrastructure”
in particular
“maritime and commercial”
, present in several cities in Spain as well as in Morocco, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, according to police.
Authorities seized a total of 172 properties belonging to the organization, with an estimated value of 50 million euros.
The police had been on the trail of Karim Bouyakhrichan for five years.
According to Daniel Vázquez, he was very difficult to track because he moved from one country to another, had his own security service and
“was very careful in his communications”
.
Bouyakhrichan and the other detainees, whose nationality police did not specify, will be tried in Spain and then sent to the Netherlands, which has requested their extradition to prosecute them for crimes committed there.
Many European traffickers wanted by the police seek refuge in Spain, particularly in the country's seaside resorts, where arrests regularly take place, but sometimes also clashes between rival gangs.
In May, two French people from Marseille were murdered in the coastal town of Salou, in Catalonia, in a clash with a rival gang from Marseille.
This double homicide made the authorities fear an export of Marseille delinquency to Catalonia.