Posted on September 29, 2021

Dutch PM ‘Targeted for Kidnapping by Drug Gangs’

Agence France-Presse, September 27, 2021

utch police have stepped up security for Prime Minister Mark Rutte over fears he may be targeted for kidnapping or an attack by drug gangs, local media reports said Monday.

The threat against Rutte, who is known for riding his bike around town with little security, comes after the Dutch government pledged a crackdown on organized crime groups following the murder of a prominent investigative reporter in August.

The 54-year-old center-right premier has been shadowed by so-called spotters for an notorious drug trafficking gang dubbed the “Mocro Mafia,” De Telegraaf newspaper and several broadcasters reported.

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Similar spotters were involved in the murders of a Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries in July, and of a lawyer for a witness in the trial of an alleged boss of the same gang in 2019, the newspaper said.

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Dutch authorities vowed to tackle organized crime after the murder of De Vries.

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The gang is nicknamed the Mocro Mafia because its members are mainly of Moroccan and Antillean origin.