One of criminal kingpin Taghi's alleged hitmen arrested in prison month before release

The Midden-Nederland police arrested Jaoaud W. in his cell in De Schie prison in Rotterdam on Tuesday morning. The authorities believe W. is one of the hitmen regularly hired by Ridouan Taghi. He is currently serving a sentence for his membership in a “murder service” linked to at least five assassinations. He was due to be released next month, the Telegraaf reports.

According to the newspaper, the police arrested W. again because they did not want to risk him disappearing and starting killing again after his release.

The court found that W. played an important role in the 26Koper group - a murder-for-hire service shut down after a major weapons bust in NIeuwegein. In 2016 and 2017, the court sentenced its members to up to 14.5 years in prison for making preparations for multiple assassinations. W. got 13 years in prison.

W. is being prosecuted for involvement in five murders - the double murder of Pieter Vos and Jaab Zillig in Houten in 2012, the murder of Rinus Moerer in Steenbergen in 2014, and the assassinations of Mhammed Alarasi and Samir Jabil in Amersfoort. He is also suspected of killing Gilbert Roemer in Nieuwegein in 2012 but hasn’t been prosecuted for that yet.

The authorities believe that Ridouan Taghi, among others, ordered the assassinations 26Koper was preparing for, though Taghi has not yet been convicted for the murders attributed to the group. According to the Telegraaf, it has been established that W. and Taghi have a personal bond and directly spoke with each other on PGP phones. W. is also a distant cousin of Delano G., the man who allegedly shot and killed crime reporter Peter R. de Vries.