Fugitive Top Criminal Arrested in Moroccan Cell: Samir 'Patatje' Accused of XTC Smuggling

antwerp - The Moroccan police have arrested the fugitive top criminal Samir 'Patatje'. The arrest took place in Morocco a month ago near Casablanca. Samir, also known as 'Patatje' or 'Samir Turtle', is suspected of being involved in the smuggling of XTC pills to Morocco and human trafficking.

Samir El Y., also known as 'Patatje' or 'Samir Turtle', was arrested a month ago near Casablanca. According to reports in the Moroccan media, the Antwerp resident is suspected of being involved in the smuggling of XTC pills to Morocco, as well as human trafficking. Although concrete evidence linking him to a drug bust is lacking, Moroccan security services announced the interception of 200,000 XTC tablets during the same period. The party drugs were concealed in boxes of cat food loaded in a vehicle sent from Belgium to Morocco.

The Moroccan media also connect Samir El Y. to the Dutch underworld boss Ridouan Taghi and his son Faissal, who was recently extradited to the Netherlands from Dubai. However, sources in the Antwerp criminal environment strongly deny that 'Patatje' has any links to the Taghi group. Samir El Y. did spend some time in a Dubai prison based on a Dutch arrest warrant. Nevertheless, the Dutch investigation in which Samir El Y. is a suspect is said to be unrelated to the case against Ridouan Taghi's son.

'I am representing Mr. Y.,' says Cem Polat, Samir El Y.'s lawyer in Amsterdam. 'However, the extradition request from the Netherlands has nothing to do with the Taghi family. They are separate issues and are not related. I am unaware of the reason for his recent arrest in Morocco.'

Samir El Y. is considered a veteran of Antwerp's drug scene and is a relative of the notorious criminal Hakim El Y., also known as 'Turtle'. Both are believed to have shares in a shisha bar in Morocco. El Y. is also a distant relative of another infamous drug dealer from Antwerp, Abdelkader Bouker, alias 'De Jood', who was kidnapped by French gangsters in 2016 and has not been seen since.

Belgian police and justice authorities are also interested in 'Patatje', who is said to have collaborated for years with the brothers Kamal and Faisel E.B., relatively unknown figures in Antwerp's criminal underworld. Investigations against Samir El Y. are ongoing in both Brussels and Antwerp largely based on the Sky ECC investigation, which decrypted millions of encrypted messages between criminals.

Samir El Y., officially residing in Borsbeek but hiding in Dubai for years, used the aliases 'Dragon' and 'Isaac Griffith' within the Sky ECC network. Members of the Antwerp drug environment do not believe that Samir El Y. would be involved in XTC smuggling to Morocco. Several sources indicate that 'Patatje' may have been set up by a local Moroccan criminal and corrupt police officers as retaliation for refusing to collaborate with them.