Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Dutch journalist Paul Vugts has been following events in the Amsterdam underworld for more than 25 years. He writes about drug gangsters, contract killings, and the global cocaine business. He faced death threats, had to leave his home, and lived with his future wife under the protection of an elite police unit in a strictly guarded security regime. Subscribe to OCCRP on YouTube ► https://shorturl.at/BSzsh
What Paul and Pavla talked about:
0:00 – What does it mean to be a criminal reporter?
3:10 – Rules: What journalists should not report about criminals
4:05 – The Mocro Mafia and the Marengo trial
7:28 – How Ridouan Taghi and the Mocro Mafia built cocaine routes to Europe
12:00 – How Ridouan Taghi was captured in Dubai
16:13 – Killings linked to people connected to reporting on Taghi
18:10 – Escalation of attacks on lawyers in Amsterdam
20:15 – New trend: Collaboration between different criminal groups
22:15 – “Narco-terror” in the Netherlands
24:50 – Does Paul Vugts feel fear—and why he continues
27:05 – The moment a criminal saved Paul’s life
33:55 – Living under high-security police protection
42:50 – “Test beer” before leaving the protection program
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Twitter ►► https://x.com/OCCRP
Dutch journalist Paul Vugts has been following events in the Amsterdam underworld for more than 25 years. He writes about drug gangsters, contract killings, and the global cocaine business. He faced death threats, had to leave his home, and lived with his future wife under the protection of an elite police unit in a strictly guarded security regime. Subscribe to OCCRP on YouTube ► https://shorturl.at/BSzsh
What Paul and Pavla talked about:
0:00 – What does it mean to be a criminal reporter?
3:10 – Rules: What journalists should not report about criminals
4:05 – The Mocro Mafia and the Marengo trial
7:28 – How Ridouan Taghi and the Mocro Mafia built cocaine routes to Europe
12:00 – How Ridouan Taghi was captured in Dubai
16:13 – Killings linked to people connected to reporting on Taghi
18:10 – Escalation of attacks on lawyers in Amsterdam
20:15 – New trend: Collaboration between different criminal groups
22:15 – “Narco-terror” in the Netherlands
24:50 – Does Paul Vugts feel fear—and why he continues
27:05 – The moment a criminal saved Paul’s life
33:55 – Living under high-security police protection
42:50 – “Test beer” before leaving the protection program
Follow OCCRP
Instagram ►► instagram.com/occrp
Facebook ►► facebook.com/OCCRP.org
Tik Tok ►► tiktok.com/@occrp.org
LinkedIn ►► linkedin.com/company/the-organized-crime-and-corruption-reporting-project
Twitter ►► https://x.com/OCCRP
