Suspects linked to Ridouan Taghi released from jail

Six people arrested on Monday over ties to alleged crime boss Ridouan Taghi were released from custody this week. Five of them, reportedly including Taghi’s sister, were set free on Thursday.

The sixth, an Amsterdam man, is suspected of money laundering for renting an apartment in Brussels on behalf of Taghi from 2015 to 2018. “The monthly rent of 4,300 euros has been paid in cash for the first seven months. The deposit of 25,800 euros was also paid in cash by the suspect,” the Dutch prosecutor’s office said.

The Amsterdammer’s home was searched, where investigators found “telephones, laptops, an expensive watch, 14,100 euros in cash and about 1.5 kilograms of hash.”

He was conditionally released from custody on Friday at the prosecutor’s request. The conditions of his release were not disclosed.

Taghi was taken into custody in Dubai this week, accused of using a false passport to enter the Arab emirate years earlier. Linked in the Netherlands to multiple murders and assassination plots, Taghi was apprehended without issue along with a female friend at a villa.