The Hitmen

In July 2021, a vicious assassination attempt was carried out against prominent crime reporter Peter de Vries, shocking the Netherlands. After a television appearance in Amsterdam, Peter de Vries was on his way to the parking garage when two men suddenly ambushed him. One of the men pulled out a gun and fired five shots at the journalist, who collapsed. The two men then fled in a car. Peter de Vries was taken to the hospital, where he succumbed to his severe injuries nine days later. Shortly after the escape, police were able to stop the two men not far from The Hague. In the process, they seized the gun used in the shooting and a cell phone containing text messages that clearly proved the attack had been a contract killing. The two perpetrators were 22-year-old Dutchman Delano G., who had fired the fatal shots, and 36-year-old Pole Kamil E., who had driven the getaway car. Both were merely the henchmen who had carried out the murder of the well-known reporter Peter de Vries. The police suspected the drug mafia was behind it all. This was because, in a sensational trial against the powerful drug lord Ridouan Taghi, Peter de Vries had served as an advisor to the key witness Nadil B.—one of the most important informants against Taghi—whose lawyer, Dirk Wiersum, and whose brother had previously been murdered. That is why the police believed that Taghi’s legendary drug gang, better known as the Angels of Death, was behind the assassination attempt on Peter de Vries. Ridouan Taghi was considered one of Europe’s largest cocaine importers, shipping his goods to Europe via the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. A total of 65 percent of the cocaine entering Europe comes through these two ports, placing both countries fifth and sixth in the global drug rankings. Through corruption and intimidation, the drugs reach the relevant dealers. Organized crime thus launders money on a massive scale, with its reach extending into the highest echelons of society. The trade in cocaine, heroin, and synthetic drugs is said to have generated 20 billion euros in the Netherlands in a single year. The most recent victim of this organized crime was Peter de Vries; while his killers were apprehended, the powerful figures behind the scenes who continue to pull the strings in secret remain at large.