Spain accidentally releases alleged Dutch cartel boss

Spanish Justice officials have accidentally released a billionaire Dutch drug lord from prison in a major bureaucratic mix-up.

Karim Bouyakhrichan, allegedly a leader of the Mocro Maffia, was arrested in Marbella in January after a five-year money-laundering investigation.

However, due to confusion over a Dutch extradition request, he was accidentally released. He has since vanished. 

Spanish authorities remain confident that he will be found. 

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Justice Minister Félix Bolaños conceded that the escape was “worrying news”, but insisted that security forces “will hand this person over to justice as soon as possible”.

The Mocro Maffia refers to several of Europe’s largest cocaine trafficking cartels and is believed to have smuggled billions of euros worth of the drug from South America into the EU over the past 15 years. 

Bouyakhrichan – also known as Taxi – was arrested in January alongside five other men after being accused of laundering money through the purchase of 172 properties in Spain worth over €50m (£42.9m).