Mocro mafia expansion: German fears of violent crime surge

German police have warned that a network of organised crime groups is migrating from the Netherlands to Germany. This information surfaced following a widespread operation concerning kidnappings and torture.

In Germany, fears are mounting over potential mafia wars between Dutch and German criminal groups after a failed drug deal led to the kidnapping and torture of a man and a woman in western Germany earlier this month.

Two individuals, apparently belonging to a German organised crime group, were freed in a police operation in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. The operation resulted in four arrests and raids on six other properties in the city, during which two more men were arrested.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, seven explosions occurred over the course of three weeks, all linked to attempts to steal cash from ATMs.

All these crimes were reportedly committed by the so-called "Mocro Mafia." This term is used by media in the Netherlands and Germany to refer to several organised crime groups that emerged in the Dutch Moroccan community during the 1990s. Additionally, the term Mocro Mafia has gained popularity due to a hit Dutch TV series (currently in its sixth season).

Mocro Mafia is just one of many; Europol has counted 821 organised crime networks across Europe, with over 25,000 members.

Most criminologists and police agree that Mocro Mafia no longer has a single ethnic identity.

"The so-called Mocro Mafia began importing cannabis into the Netherlands in the 1990s and later expanded to include cocaine imports," said Dirk Peglow, head of the German Association of Investigative Police Officers. "We are thus dealing with a group whose structures have existed for decades." They are much more inclined towards violence than organised crime groups in Germany. Grim stories circulate in the media, including tales of torture chambers, severed heads left outside bars, and even alleged plans to kidnap the 18-year-old Dutch princess Amalia. Renowned Dutch criminologist Cyrille Fijnaut estimated that Mocro Mafia kills between 10 and 20 people every year.

"In all such groups, the propensity for violence is very high. But in this particular group, the readiness to commit violence is higher," noted Mahmoud Jaraba, a crime researcher at the Centre for Islamic Studies and Law in Europe (FAU).

He observed that although groups based in Germany have not yet been blowing up ATMs, in terms of their structures and activities, these groups are similar. "Arab 'clans' in Germany are not very different: the main players come from a specific family, but these are not closed groups," Jaraba added in an interview with DW. "Without their networks inside and outside of Germany and the Netherlands, they would not survive," he added.

The Mocro Mafia's lack of restraint became infamous in the Netherlands in 2021 with the murder of Peter R. de Vries. The well-known Dutch journalist, who extensively covered organised crime in the country, was shot in the head in Amsterdam after appearing on a television talk show.

This murder was one of three associated with the ongoing six-year-long so-called Marengo trial (named after the codename for a police operation), in which several defendants, including gang leader Ridouan Taghi, were charged with multiple murders and attempted murders. In February this year, all seventeen defendants received long prison sentences, including life sentences for Taghi and three others.

Besides de Vries, the brother of key witness Nabil B. and his lawyer were also killed. In June, a Dutch court convicted six men for the journalist's murder.

Despite these judicial successes, criminal networks seem to be thriving and spreading in Germany. "In North Rhine-Westphalia, we have noticed that the group is already active in Germany and that it shows brutality in its criminal activities that include bodily harm and even the killing of innocent bystanders," said Dirk Peglow.

Although the kidnapping in Cologne showed that conflicts could arise between the groups, the organisations usually seem to work closely together, with German groups importing cocaine and heroin from their Dutch partners.

"The relationships and cooperation between various criminal groups in Germany and the Netherlands continue to this day," claims Mahmoud Jaraba. However, scientists do not know precisely when the Mocro Mafia started moving to Germany or exactly which crimes in Germany might have been commissioned by the Dutch group.

Nevertheless, in recent years, German and Dutch police have found that they can gather much more information about international organised crime networks by analysing online messengers. Dirk Peglow, however, warned that the German government needs to do more to support the police to prevent the spread of Dutch organised crime into Germany.

"In Germany, we cannot wait for similar structures to emerge as in the Netherlands. We must cooperate closely with the Dutch police and prevent the spread of incidents like the recent one in North Rhine-Westphalia," he said.

However, according to the expert, without more resources, the police have little chance of fighting such structures. "Our capabilities to combat this phenomenon are very limited because, in most cases, the criminals come from the Netherlands and have their escape routes and people who cooperate with them," he emphasised.