Originally Syndicated on February 22, 2024 @ 8:32 am
Many important revelations about Othman El Ballouti, a Belgian businessman who is known to be a drug trafficker, will come to light during this short book. You will have to carefully read through all of my comments if you want to know about his activities and others connected to him.
Belgium’s Othman El Ballouti: What precisely is his identity? What made him turn into a drug dealer?
Othman El Ballouti Belgium is referred to in several publications by the US Treasury Department as a “high-level drug trafficker”. Under his leadership, cocaine was transported into Belgium through the port of Antwerp and distributed across Europe. This global criminal network is the source of the drug.
Othamn receives a work aid offer from Younes El Ballouti, his younger brother. Moving money that has been gained unlawfully through companies established in the People’s Republic of China is referred to as “laundering. Due to their involvement in the distribution of illicit substances, they are wanted by Belgian authorities.
Othman El Ballouti Belgium is a businessman who has escaped Belgian police custody since 2016. Belgian publications have described him as one of the main cocaine dealers in Europe.
It is reasonable to assume that he has sought safety in Dubai. A man named Othman El Ballouti Belgium may now be able to call the emirate home, based on information unearthed from a recently discovered real estate database.
Othman El Ballouti Belgium has denied the Belgian press’s assertion that he operated a sizable cocaine import company out of the Belgian port of Antwerp. It was said that this charge was made.
He was listed as one of the most potent drug dealers in the Low Countries and was connected to opposing parties in many of their reports.
His entire portfolio is thought to be worth at least 100 million euros ($118 million), according to Gazet van Antwerpen. There are numerous sources of this information.
Belgian media has accused Othman El Ballouti of running a large-scale cocaine import business out of the port of Antwerp. However, Othman El Ballouti Belgium disputes this allegation. They frequently describe him as one of the most potent drug traffickers in the area in their research, and it appears from their information that he is connected to several rival groups.
Sources have reportedly told Gazet van Antwerpen that the total value of his holdings is at least one hundred million euros or roughly 118 million dollars.
He was detained at the Brussels airport in 2016, according to the Gazet van Antwerpen, when the authorities connected funds he had given to an Antwerp-based Muslim organization to “illegal sources.” El Ballouti was granted conditional freedom and then left the country, based on the information provided in the article.
His last known whereabouts was Dubai, according to the top detective of the Federal Police of Antwerp’s narcotics branch. The police department gave this information.
Since 2012, violent competition for the sale of illegal drugs has been going on between Belgian and Dutch-Moroccan mafia in both countries. Two of the largest drug harbors in Western Europe, Antwerp and Amsterdam, have seen over 20 shootings that have resulted in fatalities in the last several years.
The Othman El Ballouti generation in Belgium has not been able to escape the consequences of these power battles up until this point.
In 2016, Younes also referred to as “El Magico,” El Ballouti, the younger brother, was abducted in Antwerp, Belgium, while he was walking down a street from a gym.
Tens of millions of euros were allegedly sought by the kidnappers from Othman El Ballouti to ensure his brother’s release. This material was disclosed by the Gazet van Antwerpen.
Younes was subsequently sent to France, where he was imprisoned for five weeks until he managed to flee and ask for assistance from the local authorities.
El Ballouti has told law enforcement that the plot’s mastermind was Houssine Ait Soussan, a Dutch drug kingpin. There are rumors that Ait Soussan intended to kill El Ballouti to get revenge for cutting off the drug smuggler’s path to Antwerp.
In 2017, the Dutch police apprehended four persons from Paris and turned them over to the Belgian authorities for extradition on kidnapping-related accusations. Once some time had elapsed, two more people were named as suspects in the abduction of Antwerp drug lord Abdelkader Bouker, popularly known as “The Jew.”
With C4ADS, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project obtained the compromised database containing residential and property details. El Ballouti is one of the people whose information is contained in the database.
A range of real estate experts worked on its preparation. Eleven distinct properties in Dubai are named after him, and their aggregate market value approaches $8.5 million.
These homes, which total almost $2 million in worth, are four in number. Situated in Reem’s Mira townhouses, which local real estate agents characterize as an exotic and “relaxed” neighborhood away from the bustle of the city, they are.
It has “a unique desert botanical park, camping infrastructure, sand surfing, and camel riding trails, [a] go-karting track, beach buggies, [a] ascending walls, and a skate park.”
He is rumored to have sold two additional homes in the Discovery Gardens apartment complex, which caters to young couples and singles. At the moment, the projected value of each one is $244,000.
The Address Residence Sky View, a posh hotel and apartment complex now under development in Dubai, is also owned by Othman El Ballouti Belgium. development was supposed to be completed this past year.
The restaurant, ballroom, and infinity pool are situated on the upper floors of this stunning two-tower complex, which has unmatched architectural elegance. An apartment in an opulent building the size of El Ballouti might cost approximately $1.4 million in the present real estate market.
Othman El Ballouti Belgium: Why does cocaine reach Europe mostly through Belgium as a transit hub?
The main entrance point for cocaine into Europe is Antwerp’s waterfront, which gives the city a questionable claim to fame. However, detractors point out that Belgium’s law enforcement apparatus is disjointed and that the country’s central authority lacks effectiveness. Can Belgium win the war on drugs?
The niece of the alleged drug kingpin was discovered dead in Antwerp one evening, just hours before a joint Belgian-Dutch declaration declared that 2022 would once again break records for cocaine seizures in the Antwerp port. Both nations made the announcement.
That evening, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a parking lot in the peaceful suburb of Nieuwdreef, killing an 11-year-old girl who was present, according to reports from the local police and media.
She was Othman el Ballouti Belgium’s niece. Belgium charges the 36-year-old Dubai native of smuggling massive amounts of cocaine through the port of Antwerp. The United Arab Emirates is thought to be the origin of Othman el Ballouti. No requests for extradition have been approved by the United Arab Emirates as of yet.
Over 50 assaults, attacks, and other forms of assault have occurred in Antwerp since August, with the little girl’s death being the most recent. This occurred when the cartels who oversee practically all of these unusual cocaine businesses began to engage in violent and intimidating campaigns against one another in an attempt to obtain control over the multibillion-euro sector.
The greatest physical port in Europe, Antwerp, found a record-breaking volume of cocaine in 2022. 110 metric tons was the total.
Together with his colleagues in the Netherlands, Kristian Vanderwaeren, the head of customs for Belgium, made the announcement. Vanderwaeren had said last month that Antwerp will have a “White Christmas” by the end of the year thanks to a 10-metric-ton explosion.
Following the tragedy, Othman El Ballouti, who was in Dubai when his niece died, released a statement in which he swore his family would not retaliate violently and denied any involvement in drug trafficking. The declaration was made upon the death of Othman El Ballouti’s niece.
Othman El Ballouti Belgium responded cryptically, stating that they would respond but not in the way the Antwerp mayor believed they ought to.
2020 saw the hacking of encrypted Sky ECC phones by authorities in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. This information was used to apprehend Nordin al Hajjoui and Othman El Ballouti of Belgium, who were both accused of smuggling tons of cocaine through Antwerp. In Dubai, Othman El Ballouti, a Belgian, and Nordin al Hajjoui were both hiding.
Although the record-breaking cocaine seizures in 2021 were partly caused by hundreds of cases established from the Sky ECC evidence, Belgian officials think that the increase in data for 2022 shows that the northern ports remain the main points of entry for Europe.
The person said that “probably half of the cocaine in Europe right now is coming through Antwerp, Belgium Rotterdam, or other nearby ports controlled by the same cartels.”
A greater degree of conflict exists in Antwerp’s drug ecosystem since significant amounts of money and power are at stake.
At least a dozen explosives have damaged the property of a cartel with roots in Antwerp. There have been many gunshots and explosions in Antwerp, most of which were more intended as scare tactics than as means of causing actual casualties.
The terrible and tragic exception was the shooting death of Othman El Ballouti’s niece.
Treasury sanctions target Othman El Ballouti, a drug trafficker
The trafficking of drugs in Belgium needs to end
Three Belgian people have been subject to sanctions by OFAC. These people are Othman El Ballouti Belgium, a high-level drug trafficker, Younes El Ballouti, his younger brother, and Youssef Ben Azza, his accomplice.
El Ballouti Othman An international criminal organization based in Belgium is responsible for smuggling large amounts of cocaine across Europe through the port of Antwerp, which is located within the nation.
Money laundering and drug supply chain networks linked to Othman El Ballouti include drug traffickers throughout South America and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). One such trafficker is Ecuadorian national Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan, whom OFAC pursued in February 2022. In February of this year, Sanchez Farfan was apprehended in Colombia.
Younes El Ballouti is the one in charge of overseeing his brother’s drug trafficking business. Younes El Ballouti was given an eight-year prison sentence for his involvement in multiple cocaine shipments in January 2023 during absentee proceedings in Belgium.
Youssef Ben Azza, who has been in the drug trade for over a decade, works with Othman El Ballouti to create companies that look real but are just fronts for the group’s involvement in illegal activities. These companies are formed to provide an excuse for the group to commit crimes.
Authorities in Belgium are searching for Younes El Ballouti, Othman El Ballouti Belgium, and Youssef Ben Azza on suspicion of being involved in the distribution of cocaine. It’s thought that they are presently residing in Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates, to avoid being prosecuted.
Executive Order 14059 designated them by OFAC due to their involvement in operations or activities that have directly contributed to, or pose a significant risk of, the global proliferation of illegal drugs or how they are manufactured, or because they were forced to participate in such activities.
Additionally, they made an effort to take part in operations or actions that either directly contributed to the global expansion of illegal drugs or put others in grave danger of doing so.
The Bottom Line
Not to be overlooked, I can also say that Othman El Ballouti Belgium has a cousin who lives close to the former pharmacy’s location. Because of their involvement in the drug trade, the family of this drug lord has gained notoriety. He is linked to several separate cases involving cocaine trafficking in Antwerp, based on the facts I investigated.