A billionaire drug kingpin escaped justice by paying a bond set at just $53K and then running away
AP/Paul White
- A billionaire cartel boss was arrested for his involvement in drug trafficking, reports say.
- Karim Bouyakhrichan was released on bail by a Spanish court after paying a $53,000 bond.
- He then fled, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
A billionaire drug baron was arrested in Spain on money laundering charges but was released after paying a $53,000 bond, according to reports. He then simply vanished.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Felix Bolaños, Spain's justice minister, described the development as "worrying news" but added that security forces would bring the man to justice "as soon as possible."
Karim Bouyakhrichan was one of the most important leaders of a Dutch-Moroccan cocaine cartel, according to Spanish authorities, and was arrested along with five other suspects in January.
They were accused of buying 172 properties in Spain worth more than €50 million, about $53 million, to launder the gains of drug trafficking operations, Spain's National Police said in a press release at the time.
This followed a five-year investigation that police say showed the suspects had established a criminal organization involved in large-scale drug trafficking, including the smuggling of significant amounts of cocaine.
The press release did not name Bouyakhrichan but described him as one of the leaders of the so-called Mocro Maffia — a nickname given to a network of drug gangs of Morrocan origin operating in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Morroco.
According to the BBC, the Mocro Maffia is believed to have smuggled billions of dollars worth of drugs from South America into Europe over the past decade and a half.
Politico referred to Bouyakhrichan as a billionaire who possesses bank accounts and properties around the world.
It also reported that police obtained credible evidence that he'd planned to either kidnap or kill the heir to the Dutch throne, forcing her, out of safety, to move out of student accommodation and back into the royal palace in 2022.
Bouyakhrichan was to be extradited to the Netherlands after authorities there filed an extradition order requesting he be returned to the Netherlands to stand trial for his drug trafficking empire, according to Spanish radio Cadena SER.
But shortly after his arrest, Bouyakhrichan's lawyer challenged his detention, citing a lack of evidence of criminal activity to justify imprisonment and the absence of a risk of flight, per court records seen by Business Insider.
The court rejected all of Bouyakhrichan's lawyer's grounds but ruled that preventing his risk of flight could be achieved with "less burdensome" security measures.
The judge then imposed a €50,000 bond, roughly $53,000, took away Bouyakhrichan's passport, and ordered him to report to the authorities every fifteen days.
According to the BBC, Bouyakhrichan was accidentally released amid confusion over the Dutch extradition request. It described him as one of the most wanted criminals in Europe.
Vincent Veenman, a spokesman at the Dutch public prosecutor's office in The Hague, said it was "unknown" why Bouyakhrichan had not been held in custody pending his extradition, per multiple reports.
"We are currently awaiting a decision on the extradition request," he said, adding that cooperation with the Spanish justice system was "generally good" and that "dozens of suspects are handed over every year."