Naoufal Fassih

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Naoufal Fassih, also known as Buik (Dutch for "belly"), is a Dutch criminal of Moroccan origins. [1] [2] He has been at the centre of a longrunning feud between two Dutch crime gangs. [2]

Contents

Criminal background

He has criminal links to Spain, Ireland and Morocco. [2]

Feud

In March 2012 customs seized 200 to 400 kg of cocaine in Antwerp. [2] The seizure was not announced, leading the gang in question to think they had been ripped off by rival criminals. [2]

Fassih was associated with Gwenette Martha, who was assassinated in Amsterdam in May 2014 when 80 rounds were fired at him as he left a kebab shop. [2]

Fassih was allegedly present at another assassination, that of Samir Bouyakhrichan, in Benahavis, near Marbella in August 2014. [2] Dutch police believe that he was there with five others. [2]

Bouyakhrichan was associated with another criminal called Danny Kuiters (aka Danny Daimler). [2] One of Kuiter's enforcers was Peter Raap. [2]

On 4 November 2015 Dutch police bugging a car heard Wafaa Balfallah, Fassih's girlfriend, counting out €8,000 in €500 notes and giving the cash to a man in Eindhoven. [2] Dutch police believe she then flew to Dublin, from where she contacted Fassih. [2]

The following day an attempt was made to murder Peter Raap near Amsterdam. [1] Forty shots were fired and the victim was hit seven times, though he survived. [1] He was sitting in his car on the outskirts of Amsterdam beside a canal when the attack happened. [2] He managed to climb out of the car and conceal himself in the canal. [2]

A witness got the number of the assailants' car and Dutch police arrested three men. [2] Dutch police found a BlackBerry on one of the three where the contact details for Fassih were stored under "Buik". [2]

Arrest in Dublin

In April 2016 Gardaí were executing a search warrant on an apartment in Baggot Street that they believe belonged to the Kinahan gang when Fassih answered the door. [1] Gardaí did not know who he was, though they suspected he was connected to organised crime. [1] Gardaí found a fake Dutch passport, a fake Belgian ID card, three designer watches worth up to €90,000, phones, memory sticks, €12,825 in cash and £300 in sterling. [2] He was wearing €800 trainers. [2]

He told them he was Omar Ghazouani. [2]

He was identified when his fingerprints were sent to Interpol. [2] Two arrest warrants were sent - one for a fight on a Dutch street and money-laundering in the Netherlands, the second for money-laundering relating to the cash found in the apartment in Dublin with him. [2] Messages on the phone from him criticised the gang for their failure to kill Raap. [1]

Gardaí described him as being easy to deal with when in custody. [2] When a third warrant, alleging complicity in the attempt on Peter Raap, he became agitated. [2]

Convictions

He was jailed in April 2018 for 18 years for his part in the attempt on the life of Peter Raap. [1] He was the sixth person to be convicted for a role in the crime, others having received sentences from 17 to 20 years. [1] He was convicted because he had issued instructions to kill Raap. [1]

He was also convicted of involvement with the murder of Ali Motamed. [3] He subcontracted the murder to hitmen in the Netherlands. [3] Evidence seized from Ennetcom led to him being convicted of one charge of murder and one of attempted murder. [3] Emails revealed that €130,000 was offered for the murder of Motamed, though the identity of whoever offered the money has never been established. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lally, Conor (20 April 2018). "Dutch criminal jailed for 18 years following extradition from Ireland". The Irish Times . Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Murtagh, Peter (4 February 2017). "Why was notorious Dutchman hiding out in Kinahan safe house?". The Irish Times . Retrieved 3 June 2021.
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