TWO Dutchmen have been dramatically acquitted of the 2021 murder of a Kinahan cartel bagman who was killed in a hail of bullets while driving his Bentley in Marbella.
The gangland hit targeted Abdelhadi ‘Marco’ Yaqout, 49, a high-profile nightclub owner and Daniel Kinahan friend.
It was thought to have been ordered by notorious Dutch-Moroccan gangster and cartel partner Ridouan Taghi.
The playboy businessman was shot 12 times – including in the head – by two masked men as he arrived at his luxury two-storey villa in his British-registered car in the early hours of January 21??, 2019.
He was reputed to be the impresario of several bars and nightclubs in Puerto Banus and co-owned the popular Linekers brand of bars, set up by Gary Linekar’s brother Wayne Lineker.
The two accused, named as Badr K, 33, and Omar C, 23, were arrested in Spain and held in pre-trial detention for four and three years respectively.
Despite the acquittal in Spain, Badr K this year received a 25-year jail sentence in Holland for a separate 2019 murder in Amsterdam.
The pair were linked a murder trial that rocked Holland to its core when a lawyer for a state witness in an investigation against Taghi was shot in broad daylight.
Yaqout was a larger-than-life character who attended a VIP party for the opening of Daniel Kinahan’s MTK Gym in 2014.
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