One of the biggest criminal trials in Dutch history ended today with the main defendant, Ridouan Taghi, sentenced to life in prison for a series of gangland murders.

Taghi, 46, is believed to be the mastermind of one of the Netherlands’ biggest drug cartels and – before his 2019 extradition from Dubai – was the Netherlands’ most wanted man.

Heavily armed police in body armor, helmets and masks patrolled the streets around the court, and during the trial and its preparatory phase several people connected to the case were killed.

Who is Taghi

In the trial that lasted about six years, Taghi and 16 other men were charged with six murders, four attempted murders and the preparation of several other attacks.

Taghi, now 46, was the leader of a cocaine cartel and a “well-oiled killing machine” with a simple rule: “If you talk, you die.”

He rose through the… ranks of the mafia to become a cartel boss, transporting record quantities of cocaine to the ports of Europe.

“He decided who would be killed and no one was spared,” said the president of the court. “The amount of pain that Taghi caused the victims and their loved ones is almost unimaginable.”

The court ruled that Taghi also used extreme violence to intimidate enemies and potential police informants.

With information from Reuters, Daily Mail