Assassination of Europe’s ’most wanted’ drug lord who once faked his death
Marco Ebben was one of Europe’s ‘most wanted’ men for smuggling drugs from Brazil to the Netherlands.
That is until the Dutchman took his own life in October – or so authorities believed.
To escape arrest, the 32-year-old faked his own death in the Mexican cartel stronghold of Culiacan.
But it was on Thursday that his body was found in Atizapan de Zaragoza, a municipality about 15 miles from the capital Mexico City.
The 32-year-old was assassinated by a rival gang, it is understood
He is understood to have been attacked by two hitmen as he headed to his armored truck in Plaza Antigua and shot to death.
His body was riddled with at least 15 bullets and abandoned between two cars at a parking lot.
Several fake IDs were discovered among his belongings at the scene of the assassination understood to have been planned by a rival gang.
Experts confirmed Ebben’s identity, an official at the state prosecutor’s office told AFP, asking not to be named because they were not authorised to talk about the case.
Ebben had been evading authorities for years and had lived in several countries
European law enforcement agency Europol had listed the drug lord as one of the ‘most wanted fugitives’ on the continent.
Its website says he was sentenced in October 2020 to more than seven years in prison.
Between 2014 and 2015, Ebben and his accomplices allegedly smuggled 400 kilos of cocaine in containers filled with pineapples, according to Europol.
His father, a notorious criminal from Schiedam, was sentenced to 11 years for bribing a customs official in the same trial.
He reportedly joined Mexican drug gang Los Mayos
Both men had disappeared from the police radar by then, the El Diario de Mexico reported.
After fleeing to the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Italy and Turkey, Ebben reportedly joined Mexican drug gang Los Mayos, part of the infamous Cártel de Sinaloa.
Authorities have yet to issue an official confirmation of the attack and his death.
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