Moroccan drug lord at the heart of the ‘Mocro mafia’ arrested in Paris

A suspected kingpin in the notoriously violent Dutch drug mafia has been arrested outside a Paris restaurant where he fled to avoid arrest in the Netherlands.

Called “Saïd A”, he is a 35-year-old of Moroccan descent, accused of cocaine trafficking and the production of synthetic drugs, including amphetamines and ecstasy. He is said to be a leader of the ‘Mocro mafia’ and, according to police sources, is also suspected of involvement in a wave of murders of judges, prosecution witnesses and journalists in the Netherlands.

As he left the restaurant in the busy Barbès district of northern Paris, five masked and armed police grabbed him, forced him to the ground and bundled him into an unmarked vehicle. The dramatic arrest, which lasted just seconds, left bystanders stunned.