Criminal drug ring busted after Lithuanian’s murder

On Tuesday the police arrested a 35 year old man in Bergen op Zoom on suspicion of money laundering and participation in a criminal drug organization. This drug organization is believed to be one of the two that were involved in the assassination of 37 year old Lithuanian man Gintas Macionis in Huijbergen on February 22nd last year. A total of 15 suspects have already been arrested in this case. On October 7th, 2014 three men with a Balkan background were arrested in the Netherlands. The police believe that these three men, aged 31, 34 and 39 years old, were the ones who killed Macionis. On October 9th a it was announced that a 24 year old Croatian man was taken into custody in Germany. He has been extradited to the Netherlands. During the investigation the police found increasing evidence that two criminal organizations were involved in this assassination. The four men arrested in October are members of the first organization. The second criminal organization revolves around a 40 year old man from Amsterdam. He is seen as the one who ordered the assassination and was arrested on February 27th this year. These organizations are engaged in international drug trade, cannabis in particular, and money laundering fraud. The police believe that Macionis' assassination may be related to a dispute over a drug deal.