Mink Kok arrested in Beirut


Mink Kok (60) was arrested last week in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Several sources have confirmed this. The Public Prosecution Service speaks of the arrest of a 60-year-old Dutchman in Lebanon. An investigation into drug trafficking is underway by the National Bureau of Investigation.

Kok has lived in Lebanon for a long time, he is married to a Lebanese. Kok was serving a sentence in Lebanon in connection with a discovery of 53 kilos of cocaine in 2011.

Kok and 41-year-old Dutchman Najim Z. are suspected of large-scale international drug trafficking, according to the Public Prosecution Service. In an investigation by the national detectives, suspicions have arisen against them of involvement in cocaine transports of hundreds of kilos from South America to the Netherlands.

According to the Public Prosecution Service, the trail to the suspects has become visible in intercepted PGP messages from Sky ECC. This crypto communication service was cracked by the investigative services at the beginning of 2021. An analysis of intercepted Sky messages has provided insight into Kok’s role in the import of 370 kilos of cocaine into Antwerp in 2020, the Public Prosecution Service says.

According to the justice system, Kok was probably busy from Lebanon to find out where the drugs had gone. The shipment was eventually seized in a supermarket in Germany in October 2020. According to the Public Prosecution Service, Kok had apparently lost sight of it.

Extradition The 41-year-old suspect Najim Z. is associated with illegal shipments of 750 and 840 kilos of cocaine that were intercepted in 2021 in the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam. According to Het Parool, Z. is seen as ‘Ridouan Taghi’s financial man’. The Public Prosecution Service has asked the Lebanese authorities to extradite both suspects. It is not yet known how long this procedure will take.

Mink Kok, who grew up in the Watergraafsmeer in Amsterdam, was initially unable to travel abroad after serving his sentence for possession of 53 kilos of cocaine in Lebanon because the Netherlands refused to renew his passport due to a dispute with the tax authorities. The Netherlands will request his extradition.

A few years ago, Kok was a witness in the case against Willem Holleeder in the Dutch embassy in Athens before an examining magistrate. There had been unconfirmed rumors about Kok’s arrest for several days. He was unavailable for several days. Kok was imprisoned in the Netherlands from 1999 to 2004 in connection with convictions for weapons and drugs.

The Public Prosecution Service prosecuted Kok from 2005 for the deadly bomb attack on hashish dealer Jaap van der Heiden in Alkmaar in 1993. He was acquitted of this in 2007. The Public Prosecution Service did not appeal.

In 2016 Mink Kok was interviewed in Beirut for a documentary by reporter Vincent Verweij about two paintings by Vincent van Gogh stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Kok stated, correctly as it turned out, that the Italian Raffaele Imperiale, who then lived in Dubai, had obtained the paintings. Imperiale delivered the cloths to the Italian judiciary, after which they returned to the Netherlands. Imperiale was recently extradited to Italy from the UAE.

Kok recently gave his opinion on the use of cocaine for the public broadcaster:


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