Dubai arrests 3 Belgians: Who is Othman El Ballouti, drug lord extradited from UAE?
The 38-year-old Belgian-Moroccan, long known to investigators as the 'Cocaine King,' was handed over along with two other high-profile criminals, Matthias Akyazili and Georgi Faes, following a coordinated international crackdown, Dubai Media Office announced on Sunday.
All three were subjects of Interpol red notices and face serious charges, including drug trafficking, human smuggling, armed robbery, and running a transnational criminal organisation.
But Ballouti was the biggest catch of them all. Far from a foot soldier, he is accused of orchestrating a vast cocaine pipeline from Latin America to Europe, using Antwerp as his hub. Belgian authorities believe he played a central role in flooding the port with multi-tonne shipments, positioning himself as one of Europe's most powerful narco traffickers.
In 2023 alone, authorities seized a record 116 tonnes of cocaine at the Belgian port, much of it reportedly tied to cartels Ballouti worked with.
His criminal record is just as extensive. In two separate cases, Belgian courts convicted him in absentia — seven years for trafficking 840 kilograms of cocaine, and 20 years for his role in an 11-tonne shipment intercepted in 2021.
Ballouti was also wanted for the violence linked to his criminal network.
In early 2023, an 11-year-old girl was killed in a gang-related shooting in Antwerp. She was later identified as Ballouti's niece. Authorities believe the killing was a retaliatory strike in a turf war tied to the city's spiraling drug violence. Since mid-2022, police have recorded more than 50 grenade and firearm attacks in Antwerp, many believed to be linked to rival trafficking groups.
His own family wasn't spared. In 2016, Ballouti's younger brother was kidnapped in France by a rival gang that reportedly demanded €5 million (Dh21.5 million) or 400 kilograms of cocaine for his release. He eventually escaped and named his captors to police.
Ballouti, meanwhile, has maintained he is a legitimate businessman, attributing his wealth to a watch trading venture and a restaurant. His lawyers have described him as a misunderstood entrepreneur. However, European media reports say authorities gathered evidence from encrypted communication platforms, surveillance, and cooperating witnesses that contradicted those claims.
In December 2024, the UAE's state news agency WAM confirmed Ballouti's arrest in Dubai and described him as 'one of the world's most wanted individuals.' His detention followed years of international coordination and intelligence-sharing.
Until recently, legal constraints limited European authorities' ability to extradite fugitives from the UAE. That changed with a landmark agreement signed between Belgium and the UAE in 2021, which paved the way for swifter legal action in cross-border crime cases.
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