Suspected gunman in Amsterdam DJ's murder caught in undercover operation
Tony D., a man arrested earlier this month on suspicion of being the second gunman in the mistaken identity murder of Amsterdam DJ Djordy Latumahina, was caught in a carefully considered undercover operation, the Public Prosecutor said in a pro-forma hearing in the murder case on Tuesday, NU.nl reports.
According to the Prosecutor, police officers posed as members of a Moluccan motorcycle club. The officers approached the suspect's girlfriend and "in a calm way" asked her about the driver of the car involved in Latumahina's assassination.
D. and his girlfriend went to the police to report that they were being threatened by members of a motorcycle club. This report gave the police reason to search their home and camping site. There the police found a number of items, including a firearm. D. was arrested for illegal firearm possession. On November 14th the suspect was arrested again in his cell on suspicion of involvement in Latumahina's murder.
According to the Prosecutor, the officers acted lawfully when approaching the suspect's girlfriend.
With this the Prosecutor responded to reports in Dutch media that the undercover officers posed as members of motorcycle gang Satudarah. As well as to documents in NOS' possession suggesting that the undercover officers wanted to pressure the suspect's girlfriend.
According to the Prosecutor, D. had contact with three other suspects in this case. In March of this year, six suspects were arrested for involvement in the assassination. The trail against them is scheduled to start in March 2018.
The lawyers representing the suspects doubt that the undercover operation was done by the book. According to them, the officers were indeed threatening. One of the lawyers, Jan Hein Kuijpers, therefore asked for the audio recording of the operation. The court instructed the Prosecutor to provide this tape as soon as possible.
Djordy Latumahina was gunned down as he was parking his car in the garage under his home on Koningin Wilhelminaplein in Amsterdam on October 8th, 2016. His girlfriend and their 2-year-old daughter were in the car when it happened. The girlfriend was seriously injured, but survived the attack. The little girl sustained no physical injuries.
The police believe that the murderers mistook Djorty for someone else. The actual target is believed to be a drug dealer who lived in the same complex and also drove a dark Mini, according to AD. This drug dealer went into hiding abroad after the attack.
