The Marengo Organized-Crime Murders

Marengo was the name assigned to a Dutch criminal case focused on a violent organization operating in the Netherlands. The prosecution covered a criminal organization active from 2015 into early 2017 and a series of killings, attempted killings and preparations for other attacks. The case became unusually complex because it combined many defendants, encrypted communications, a cooperating witness and years of hearings under extraordinary security.

The killings covered by Marengo

The Dutch judiciary's official case overview lists six charged murders in the Marengo sub-investigations: Ronald Bakker, killed in Huizen on September 9, 2015; Samir Erraghib, killed in IJsselstein on April 17, 2016; Abderrahim Belhadj, killed in Amsterdam on May 9, 2016; Ranko Scekic, killed in Utrecht on June 22, 2016; Martin Kok, killed in Laren on December 8, 2016; and Hakim Changachi, killed in Utrecht on January 12, 2017.

The same official overview also records several attempted murders and preparations for additional killings. The February 2024 court summary concluded that the criminal organization was responsible for five murders, two attempted murders and multiple murder preparations; one charged murder could not be attributed to the organization on the evidence accepted by the court.

Evidence and the crown witness

A major part of the prosecution rested on decrypted communications between defendants and on testimony from crown witness Nabil B. The court evaluated that evidence across numerous sub-cases rather than treating membership in the organization as automatic proof of every killing. That distinction matters because the 17 defendants received different findings and sentences according to the conduct the court found proven.

The proceedings began years before the final first-instance judgment. Ridouan Taghi, who had been wanted internationally, was arrested in Dubai in December 2019 and transferred to the Netherlands. The trial ultimately occupied 142 hearing days and generated a very large evidentiary record.

The February 2024 verdicts

On February 27, 2024, the Amsterdam District Court convicted all 17 defendants then before it of participation in the criminal organization, while making different findings on the individual murder and attempted-murder allegations. The court imposed life imprisonment on Ridouan Taghi, Saïd Razzouki and Mario R. Thirteen other co-defendants received prison terms ranging from 1 year and 9 months to 29 years and 2 months, while crown witness Nabil B. received 10 years.

Taghi was found by the first-instance court to be the organization's undisputed leader. Public reporting and the court's own summary describe him as convicted in connection with five murders, alongside attempted murders and other planned killings. Those findings are convictions, not merely allegations, but they are not yet final because appeals were filed.

What is separate from this case

The Marengo proceedings were accompanied by later killings of people connected to the crown-witness structure and public scrutiny of the trial. Those later crimes are legally separate. In particular, the 2021 murder of journalist Peter R. de Vries has its own prosecution and its own Crime by Region case file. This page does not count that murder again, and it does not treat every later act associated in public discussion with the Marengo environment as part of the 2024 Marengo judgment.

The appeal remains active

The first-instance verdicts did not end the litigation. The appeal began in 2024. By June 2026, prosecutors had presented new sentencing demands against the group of co-defendants whose appeal had advanced, including four renewed requests for life imprisonment. Taghi's own appeal developed on a different timetable after prolonged difficulty securing defense counsel.

In June 2026, new lawyers took on Taghi's defense. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal granted substantial preparation time, with further procedural hearings scheduled for 2027 and the substantive handling of his case not expected before after March 2028. Accordingly, this file does not describe Taghi's life sentence or the other appealed judgments as irrevocable.

Timeline

1. 2015–2017
   Murders and attempted killings investigated

   The Marengo sub-investigations cover six charged murders, attempted murders and preparations for additional killings across several Dutch cities.

2. March 2018
   Crown-witness arrangement becomes public

   Proceedings expand around testimony from Nabil B. and evidence gathered in the multi-defendant investigation.

3. December 2019
   Ridouan Taghi is arrested

   Taghi is arrested in Dubai and subsequently transferred to the Netherlands.

4. February 27, 2024
   Amsterdam District Court issues verdicts

   All 17 defendants are convicted; Taghi, Razzouki and Mario R. receive life sentences.

5. March–April 2024
   Appeals are filed and begin

   Multiple defendants challenge the first-instance judgments.

6. June 2026
   Appeal remains unresolved

   Prosecutors seek severe sentences in the advanced co-defendant appeals, while Taghi's own appeal is delayed to allow new counsel time to prepare.

Current status

As of the latest review in August 2026, the 2024 Marengo convictions remain in place but are not final across the appealed cases. The Dutch appellate process is continuing. This file is therefore classified as Solved / First-instance convictions under appeal, not as a final adjudication.