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Security authorities in Dubai have confirmed the arrest of Othman El Ballouti, a Belgian national of Moroccan origin and one of Belgium’s most wanted criminals. According to a statement from the Dubai Police General Command, El Ballouti was the subject of an international red warrant and was listed by Interpol and Europol for his involvement in transnational organized crime and drug trafficking.
Dubai Police stated that teams from the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, apprehended El Ballouti after being notified of an international arrest warrant issued by Belgian authorities. He has been referred to the Public Prosecution in Dubai, pending the completion of legal procedures and his extradition to Belgium.
Belgian media sources first reported El Ballouti’s arrest last week, referring to him as the «King of Cocaine».
The fall of the «Baron»
El Ballouti, originally from the city of Al Hoceima, began his criminal activities in Antwerp's vast port—a major gateway for drugs entering Europe, according to the Belga news agency. Starting as a small-time smuggler, he rose to become a prominent cocaine baron, earning nicknames such as «Baron» and «King of Cocaine».
Raised in Antwerp’s Borgerhout neighborhood, El Ballouti was one of the first criminals in the area to accept payment in cocaine instead of cash, a move that allowed him to establish his own gang and forge connections with major criminal networks like the Netherlands’ «Mocro Mafia». Recently, he reportedly sold a property in Dubai to Alejandro Salgado Vega, also known as «El Tigre» and Spain's top cocaine trafficker, for €1.5 million.
In 2016, Belgian authorities arrested El Ballouti at the Brussels Airport, suspecting that a €115,000 donation he made to an Islamic school in Antwerp came from illicit funds. After being released on parole, he moved to Dubai, reportedly taking advantage of the absence of an extradition treaty between the UAE and Belgium at the time.
El Ballouti's family, drugs and account settling
El Ballouti’s family is one of the wealthiest in Antwerp’s underworld, according to the city’s mayor in an interview with La Libre. An investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) previously estimated El Ballouti’s wealth at €100 million, including €8 million worth of real estate in Dubai.
The family has also faced violent rivalries. Younes «El Magico» El Ballouti, Othman’s younger brother, was kidnapped by a rival gang for ransom, and last year, El Ballouti's 11-year-old niece was killed in Antwerp as part of an account settling.
El Ballouti has also been under surveillance by U.S. authorities. In 2023, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned him for importing and distributing cocaine in the United States. He was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison in Belgium last September and now faces a new trial on drug trafficking charges, with prosecutors seeking a 20-year prison sentence.
«There are several cases demanding his extradition», a judicial source told AFP. «He has been arrested, and now we will see if we are able to secure his extradition», the source added.
