HIBAPRESS – Mohammed Zerouih
The Public Prosecutor's Office in the Belgian city of Antwerp announced on Wednesday that the 38-year-old citizen Nasser El-Din Tahraoui, known by the nickname 'El Nazouri', has been officially handed over from the United Arab Emirates to the Belgian authorities to complete the judicial proceedings issued against him in connection with international drug trafficking cases.
This handover came after the arrest of the individual and his imprisonment during the summer of the current year in the Emirate of Dubai, where he had been residing for years, based on international arrest warrants linked to his alleged involvement in criminal networks active in the smuggling and distribution of drugs through the vital port of Antwerp.
The details of the case date back to judicial investigations that revealed Tahraoui's involvement in leading a network implicated in importing at least 854 kilograms of cocaine. The threads of this network were uncovered thanks to the analysis of encrypted messages via the "Sky ECC" application, followed by precise police operations in June 2023 that resulted in the seizure of significant quantities of drugs, along with firearms and huge sums of money.
In the context of the litigation process, the Antwerp Criminal Court issued an in absentia sentence in May 2026, sentencing 'El Nazouri' to 12 years in prison, with the confiscation of criminal proceeds estimated at five million euros, before he was arrested in Dubai two months after the sentence was issued, paving the way for his extradition.
The judicial pursuits facing the individual are not limited to this case alone, as he also faces other charges in a separate case related to additional cocaine import operations through the same port, where the public prosecution is seeking an additional seven-year prison sentence against him in a case that is still under consideration.
