Latest news with #SkyECC
Sunday World
12 hours ago
- Sunday World
Prosecutors demand nine year sentence for Kinahan associate drug lord Mink Kok
The 63-year-old is trying to overturn a 2023 drug smuggling conviction Prosecutors in the Netherlands have demanded Kinahan associate and drug lord Mink Kok receive a nine-year prison sentence for his role in smuggling drugs into the country. It comes as the 63-year-old appealed his conviction at the court of appeal at The Hague on Wednesday. He was handed down a six-year sentence in June 2023 after he was found guilty for his role in smuggling 400 kilos of cocaine into the Netherlands in a shipment of bananas. The consignment arrived in 2020 via the port of Antwerp but was somehow mislaid and was eventually found at a supermarket in Remscheid, Germany. De Telegraaf reported that the court saw sufficient evidence for a conviction based on intercepted messages on the Sky ECC server. His lawyer, Mark Teurlings, has pleaded for his client to be acquitted. He claims that there is insufficient evidence to prove that the encrypted text messages were sent by Kok. He also claimed that the link between Kok and the banana shipment is 'factually and substantively untenable.' Mink Kok News in 90 Seconds - 6th June 2025 The hearing will continue next Wednesday. According to De Telegraaf 'the [encrypted] messages discuss, among other things, amounts of money and order lists.' 'In its ruling, the court refers to raw materials and chemicals and blocks of cocaine and cocaine base, payments and locations and required personnel (cooks). "He had a leading and coordinating role," the court said. 'In addition, he had a leading role in setting up what appears to be a large-scale drug lab, given the amounts paid and quantities of chemicals purchased.' The Dutch Public Prosecution Service had previously demanded nine years in prison for Kok but the sentence was lowered as there was insufficient evidence that he also had another batch of drugs in his possession. The convicted drug trafficker and gun runner, one of the most infamous gangland criminals in Dutch history, had struck up a close working relationship with Christy Kinahan Snr when they were both based in Amsterdam in the 1990s. It is believed the pair worked together to import millions of euro worth of cocaine and ecstasy into Ireland and the UK. Kok's son-in-law, named only as Najim Z is also accused by the Public Prosecution Service of being behind the importation from South America of two batches of 750 and 840 kilos of cocaine. These were intercepted in 2021 in the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam. Najim Z (42) was previously sentenced for those two coke shipments in a separate case. He was handed down an eight-year prison sentence minus time spent in pre-detention and a detention period in Lebanon. However, prosecutors have demanded another 12 years in prison against him two weeks ago in the case which is completely separate from that of Kok's. According to the justice officials, evidence against Kok stems from intercepted Sky ECC messages. Justice officials say they can prove that there was intensive contact between Sky phones that are attributed to Z and Mink Kok, who were both arrested in Lebanon at the end of March 2022. There was no Sky telephone found with Kok when he was arrested, but detectives say that the investigation against Kok started after he admitted to a TV programme that he used Sky telephones to communicate with others. His lawyer previously denied that Kok was the user of the two Sky phones attributed to him. 'In the messages we clearly read that the user of the telephone would be in the Netherlands, even in Amsterdam,' Teurlings has been quoted as saying. 'So the user could never have been Kok because he was in Lebanon at the time.' Various media have referred to Najim Z based on various judicial or police sources as a 'leader' in Ridouan Taghi's network. Dutch-Moroccan Taghi is regarded as one of Europe's biggest drugs traffickers and is a key associate of the Kinahan Cartel. He was one of a number of high-profile criminals who were guests at Daniel Kinahan's wedding in Dubai in 2017. Along with a number of his associates, Taghi is currently facing multiple charges ranging from assassinations, attempted killings and murder plots. Lawyers for Z have previously contested that their client should be considered as 'the financial man' in Taghi's drug network, as the Public Prosecutor believes.
Saudi Gazette
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
232 arrested as Europol dismantles four major drug smuggling networks
BRUSSELS — Authorities have dismantled four major criminal networks responsible for fuelling the flow of drugs into the European Union and Turkey, the EU's law enforcement agency Europol said in a statement. It follows a series of "coordinated raids" supported by the agency, which led to the arrest of 232 suspects, including several "high-value targets". Europol said the investigation, codenamed Operation Bulut, took place across multiple jurisdictions and involved authorities in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. The law enforcement agency said that the groups were arrested in connection with the seizure of at least 21 tonnes of drugs in Europe and Turkey, including 3.3 million MDMA tablets. Europol said the groups had used both traditional smuggling routes and sophisticated logistics. Investigators also reportedly exposed the groups' involvement in money laundering, violent crime and a wider network of organized criminal activity. Europol said that the use of "encrypted communication platforms" such as Sky ECC and ANOM had been a crucial tool in the operation. Over the past two years, Europol has played a key role in coordinating efforts across Europe to support investigations into these criminal networks, the agency said. By hosting high-level coordination meetings, Europol brought together all involved countries to develop a joint strategy, while intelligence shared through its channels helped map the networks' structure and identify links to other cases, it added. However, fighting drug trafficking networks in Europe is "a game of cat and mouse," according to Socialist Member of the European Parliament, Sandro Ruotolo. He was part of a parliamentary delegation that visited the ports of Antwerp in Belgium and Rotterdam in the Netherlands to assess measures to clamp down on the flow of drugs at two of the European Union's major entry points. The MEPs toured container terminals and met with local port authorities to receive briefings on how organized crime gangs conduct their drug smuggling operations. "We know the amount of drugs being seized, but how much is actually getting through?" Ruotolo asked, explaining that while scanners at the port of Rotterdam can detect cocaine hidden inside fruit, they are unable to spot it when it is concealed in fabrics. — Euronews
Ya Biladi
23-02-2025
- Sport
- Ya Biladi
Moroccan kickboxer Jamal Ben Saddik's stunning knockout comeback
DR Estimated read time: 2' Belgian-Moroccan kickboxer Jamal Ben Saddik secured a dramatic knockout victory over Uku Jurjendal at GLORY 98 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on February 22. Jurjendal, who had previously found success with calf kicks against Badr Hari, struggled to implement the same strategy. The Estonian found himself in a stalemate with Ben Saddik, who remained content with minimal effort, doing just enough with low kicks to edge the rounds in his favor. Une fierté... Le champion Marocain Jamal Ben Saddik revient en force avec une victoire par KO contre l'Estonien Uku Jürjendal ??❤️ #GLORY98 #المغرب_أولا #Morocco #Maroc #DimaMaghrib #glory98 #SaharaMarocain — Morocco First ?? (@TheRealMarroqui) February 22, 2025 Trailing on points, Jurjendal came out swinging in the third round, determined to turn the tide. However, midway through, he sustained an arm injury, severely limiting his offense. In a last-ditch effort, he aimed for a knockout, but Ben Saddik capitalized on his vulnerability, landing a decisive high kick in the final moments to end the fight. «This year, I will bring the belt to Morocco. I would like to thank the King of Morocco, my Moroccan brothers and sisters, my fans, and my friends from around the world. Thank you for your support», he said at the end of the fight, with the flag of Morocco draped over his shoulders. Ben Saddik's return to the ring comes amid ongoing legal troubles. The Belgian-Moroccan kickboxer was arrested in July 2023 in connection with an alleged kidnapping linked to drug trafficking in Antwerp. Authorities suspected him of involvement in the abduction of a 29-year-old dockworker over a dispute related to a cocaine shipment. He faced charges including kidnapping, death threats, illegal possession of firearms, and participation in a criminal organization. After several weeks in detention, a Belgian court granted him conditional release in September, 2024, initially without an electronic bracelet. However, prosecutors appealed the decision, leading to his release under electronic surveillance. This is not the first time Ben Saddik has faced legal issues—he was briefly jailed in 2021 for selling encrypted phones used in criminal activities in the Sky ECC case and was later sentenced to 40 months in prison for money laundering and fraud.
