The justice of the Netherlands announced on Monday the arrest in Curaçao, the Dutch island of the Caribbean, of a man who “Played a leading role” In the murder in 2021 of the journalist specializing in criminal affairs Peter R. de Vries. The 64 -year -old journalist had been shot in broad daylight in a street in the center of Amsterdam on July 6, 2021. He died nine days after the attack which, according to the prosecution, was linked to his role in the trial of a Dutch drug baron. “The 39 -year -old man was arrested on Monday in Willemstad, in Curaçao”said the Dutch prosecution.
He is “Suspected of playing a leading role in a criminal organization which aimed to commit violence and which was at the origin of the murder of de Vries, among others”added the prosecution in a press release. Dutch justice sentenced three of the main suspects last year to heavy prison terms. The murder organizer was sentenced to 30 years in detention, the other two men were in sentences of 28 years in prison.
“Higher levels of the criminal organization”
Three other men were sentenced to sentences ranging from 10 to 14 years in prison for complicity. “The investigators continued their investigations to find who had given the order to hit Vries”said the prosecution. “Man has become a suspect during the investigation into the highest levels of the criminal organization”according to the same source. The suspect will be transferred to the Netherlands to be brought to justice.
Peter R. de Vries had gained an international reputation after covering the abduction in 1983 of Freddy Heineken. His book was adapted to the cinema in 2015, with Anthony Hopkins in the film “Kidnapping Mr. Heineken”. The journalist then turned to television, where he had his own police show. Since 2020, he has been advisor and confidant of Nabil B., main witness dependent in the trial of a Dutch drug baron, Ridouan Taghi. In 2019, De Vries revealed that the authorities had informed him that he was on a black list established by Ridouan Taghi, sentenced in February to life imprisonment for murders committed by his gang.
