Who is Faisal Taghi, alleged drug kingpin extradited from UAE to Netherlands?

United Arab Emirates police extradited on Monday an alleged drug kingpin to the Netherlands, as cooperation between the two countries grows in fighting organized crime.

Dubai Police described Faisal Taghi, 23, as a “high-value target criminal wanted by Dutch authorities.” He was wanted on an international arrest warrant for allegedly partaking in drug trafficking, money laundering and human trafficking, as well as leading the “Angels of Death” criminal organization, according to the police.

Taghi, reportedly a Dutch citizen, was arrested in Dubai in September 2023 at the request of the authorities. He was suspected of belonging to a drug smuggling gang as well as involvement in money laundering and preparations to commit violent crimes, Agence France-Presse citing Dutch prosecutors reported at the time. 

A Monday search of Taghi in Interpol’s Red Notices did not yield any results. Dubai Police said that Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof praised the UAE for its cooperation on the extradition of Taghi. The Dutch government did not otherwise immediately comment.

Taghi is the son of the Moroccan-born Ridouan Taghi, 46. The father and his alleged accomplices were facing charges related to an alleged assassination campaign at the time of the son's arrest, according to AFP. 

The elder Taghi was the Netherlands’ most-wanted individual before his own 2019 extradition from Dubai. He was accused of running one of the country’s largest drug cartels and ordering a series of murders, and he was sentenced to life in prison in February of this year, according to Reuters.

Why it matters: The drug trade is an issue for both the UAE and the Netherlands. Last September, the Emirates captured more than $1 billion of Captagon in a major drug bust.

Germany’s public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported in February that “organized crime still looms large in the Netherlands” following the older Taghi’s sentencing. Dutch criminal organizations comprised of people of Moroccan origin allegedly control much of the European drug trade and are referred to as the “Mocro Mafia” by Dutch media, according to the outlet.

The UAE and the Netherlands signed an extradition treaty as well as a treaty on mutual legal assistance in July 2023.

In another drug case involving the two countries, Bosnian-born Edin Gacanin was arrested in Dubai in 2022 at the request of Dutch authorities. He was wanted on suspicion of trafficking cocaine, and the Netherlands requested his extradition. Gacanin was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison last November after cutting a deal, but Dubai authorities released him on bail in January and his whereabouts remain unknown, according to an April report from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

Gacanin was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in March of last year. The US government described him in a release as “one of the world’s most prolific drug traffickers."