Threatened By The Mocro Mafia, Dutch Crown Princess Leaves Home Only To Go To University
The Crown Princess of the Netherlands, Amalia, leaves her house only to go to university. She's threatened by the Mocro Mafia.
Dutch Princess Amalia, 18 years old, is forced to live with her parents instead of in a facility for students in Amsterdam because of threats from mafia organizations, and is only leaving the house to go to university, the Royal Family announced Thursday, according to Le Figaro.
Security measures have recently been tightened considerably as authorities fear an attempted kidnapping or attack targeting Princess Amalia.
The situation is "really very difficult", King Willem-Alexander told a press conference during a state visit to Sweden.
Princess Amalia Threatened By The Mocro Mafia
According to Le Parisien, the threats come mainly from the "Mocro Maffia", Moroccan mafia organizations operating in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Queen Maxima said the threats surrounding the princess - who is in her first year of Politics, Psychology, Law, and Economics (PPLE) - have had "enormous consequences" on her life.
"She has not left the house. That means she doesn't live in Amsterdam, she can't go out much. The consequences are very difficult for her," the visibly emotional Queen said.
"This is not a student life for her," added the royal couple, who live in Hague.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte described the situation as "terrible" and said he was "very worried", Dutch public television NOS reported.
"I can assure you that our security services are working hard day and night to ensure her safety," Justice and Security Minister Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius said on Twitter.
Dutch daily De Telegraaf reported in September that security had been tightened around Princess Amalia because of threats from the underworld that also targeted the prime minister.
In fact, in 2021, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was placed under police protection in response to fears of an attack by the Mocro Mafia, which France24 describes as a North African criminal organization linked to cocaine trafficking.
The Mocro Mafia
According to ZeroHedge, the group operates out of the Netherlands and Belgium and controls a third of Europe's cocaine trade.
A police syndicate chief said in 2019 that the Netherlands is becoming a narco-state. The 2014 novel Mocro Maffia, co-written by Marijn Schrijver and Wouter Laumans, coined the term and brought the criminal gang to the public's attention, chronicling how a group of Moroccan jewel thieves in Amsterdam created one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Europe. After its success in the Netherlands, the book was made into a TV series.
In March 2016, a criminal organization left the severed head of a rival on a street in Amsterdam, according to Breitbart, which has covered Dutch crime extensively.
From Cannabis To Cocaine
Founded in the 1990s, the group is made up of dozens of different clans that traffic cocaine and synthetic drugs across Europe, France24 reported. Its name comes from the Dutch nickname "Mocro", used for people of Moroccan origin living in Belgium or the Netherlands.
The organization's motto is "Wie praat, die gaat" - "He who speaks dies".
The organization started by smuggling hashish from Morocco into Europe, before developing into one of the most powerful cocaine trafficking cartels in the Netherlands and then Belgium in the 2010s.
"They started in the 1990s selling cannabis resin. I know the people who sell it in the Rif region [of Morocco] and they became experts in smuggling. Then some of them got into cocaine, which is much more profitable. They were able to get direct contacts in the areas where it is produced and then establish themselves as major players in this industry, which was previously a monopoly controlled by Italian mafia organizations such as 'Ndrangheta," explained David Weinberger, a research associate at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS) and an expert on illicit drug trafficking.
Developing direct links with Colombian and Mexican cartels, the Mocro mafia traffics cocaine through the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam. Drug seizures by police at the ports have become increasingly frequent, and Europol now considers Belgium and the Netherlands to be the nerve center of cocaine trafficking in Europe.
"Recently dozens of tonnes of cocaine have been seized, which is enormous. To give you an idea, the annual consumption of cocaine on the French market in 2010 (the most recent data available) is estimated at 15 tonnes," the expert explained.
The King Of The Mafia Group
According to Dutch journalists' investigations, one man was at the head of this giant operation between 2015 and 2017: Ridouan Taghi, the son of Moroccan migrants, who made a name for himself with his extremely violent methods.
Taghi was arrested in Dubai in 2019 and is accused of ordering the murders of nine people. His trial began in Amsterdam in March 2021. The 43-year-old is currently being held in a high-security prison in Vught, the Netherlands.
Many of those who testified at his trial have asked to remain anonymous, fearing reprisals from the Mocro mafia.
