Dubai Police have arrested and extradited three alleged Belgian crime gang leaders facing human and drug trafficking charges in their home country.
The three suspects – Mathias Akyazili, Giorgi Faes and Othman El Ballouti – were listed in the most-wanted category by Interpol and the EU's Europol.
Dubai Media Office said on Sunday that the three men were held based on Interpol red notices issued against them, in an operation carried out by police in Dubai in close co-ordination with international law enforcement agencies.
The trio have been handed over to Belgian authorities, where they are accused of serious cross-border crimes, including operating a gang, trafficking narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, committing robbery and engaging in human trafficking.
El Ballouti was placed under sanctions by the US government in July 2023 on suspicion of international drug trafficking.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control claims he oversaw an international crime network responsible for smuggling “significant quantities of cocaine via shipping containers through the Port of Antwerp in Belgium for wider distribution throughout Europe”.
Dubai Police previously announced his arrest in connection with international organised crime and drug trafficking in December last year.
The Belga News Agency in Belgium said at the time that his arrest represented a breakthrough in efforts by the country to target drug lords operating abroad.
It said that in 2024, El Ballouti had been sentenced in his absence to seven years imprisonment for trafficking 840kg of cocaine.
His extradition, and those of his two fellow suspects, followed a Dubai Police investigation was conducted in co-ordination with the Ministry of Interior and led by the General Department of Criminal Investigation.
It came after an international arrest warrant was submitted by Belgian authorities to the International Co-operation Department at the UAE Ministry of Justice.
“All required legal and judicial formalities were duly complied with before proceeding with the extradition request,” Dubai Media Office said.
Dubai Police emphasised its commitment to supporting efforts to build a strong global security network to combat criminal activity.
Fighting organised crime
Abdullah Al Nuaimi, the UAE's Minister of Justice, spoke by phone with Annelies Verlinden, Belgium's Minister of Justice, after an aircraft carrying the three wanted men arrived in Belgium.
The suspects were extradited under rulings issued by the Dubai Court of Cassation, in line with bilateral agreements in place between the Emirates and Belgium.
An extradition treaty was agreed between the countries in December 2021 and came into force the following November.
Both ministers said co-operation demonstrated the commitment of both nations to the fight against organised crime and drugs-related violence and to ensuring those accused of serious offences are brought to justice.
