The Investigating Court 4 of Marbella (Malaga) has issued two international search and arrest warrants against Karim Bouyakhrichan, also known as Taxi, considered one of the main leaders of the Mocro Maffia. The alleged mafia boss, one of the most wanted criminals in the Netherlands and under investigation for drug trafficking and money laundering in Spain, is currently in an unknown location after being released on bail due to a supposed coordination issue between the Provincial Court of Malaga and the National Court. The arrest warrants were issued three weeks after Bouyakhrichan failed to comply with the obligation to appear in court every two weeks as part of the precautionary measures imposed on him when he was released. Judicial sources lament the lost time and suspect he is already far away.
Bouyakhrichan was arrested on January 9 near the courts of Marbella, when he claimed to be going to present himself to the authorities. The night before, he had narrowly escaped a police operation by the National Police’s Special Response Group for Organized Crime (GRECO) who were looking for him since he had eluded a drug trafficking operation in Ceuta a month earlier. After his arrest, the Marbella Anti-Drug Prosecutor requested his placement in provisional detention, and the judge sent him to prison. Meanwhile, the Netherlands issued a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) to request Bouyakhrichan’s extradition. However, the Marbella judge initially refused to process it, arguing that since Taxi was also under investigation in Spain, he should be tried there before extradition.
The lawyers of the detainee filed a motion for his release due to the lack of sufficient evidence of criminality and the alleged lack of flight risk as he supposedly had roots in Spain. They also argued that three other detainees in the same case were already released. When the judge refused to release Bouyakhrichan, they appealed to the Provincial Court of Malaga. On February 22, three magistrates ruled in favor of the prisoner’s release, despite the strong opposition of the anti-drug prosecutor of Marbella. They imposed bail, passport surrender, regular court appearances, prohibition from leaving Spain, and providing a local address and contact number.
Bouyakhrichan was released on the same day after posting bail and surrendering his passport. However, he failed to comply with the requirement to sign in court every 15 days, not at the Marbella court where he was being investigated, but in other provinces’ courts. This release caused concern among law enforcement officers, as they believed releasing a criminal of his stature was surprising. His release also prompted a response from Dutch judicial authorities who sent an extension of the EAW emphasizing the urgency of extraditing the alleged Mocro Maffia boss due to the severity of the crimes attributed to him in the Netherlands.
The National Court judge decided to reactivate the arrest warrant and summoned the alleged mafia boss to inform him of the Dutch request. However, Bouyakhrichan never appeared. The last time he signed in court was on April 1, and he has been missing since then. Three weeks after breaching the precautionary measures, the court issued two warrants to facilitate his search: a European Arrest Warrant and an International Arrest Warrant. Judicial sources explain that the delay in issuing the warrants was to confirm that the fugitive had not signed in any Spanish court, as he was not obliged to do so in any specific court. Some judicial sources suggest that in cases involving potentially dangerous individuals like the Mocro Maffia boss, the measures should have been more restrictive, requiring more frequent check-ins than every 15 days as ordered by the Malaga Court.
