International Drug Kingpin Captured in Morocco After 13-Year Manhunt

Nicknamed "Turbo", Reda Abakrim disappeared from the police radar after the murder on June 17, 2007 in Poissy of Brahim Hajaji. A settling of scores between traffickers according to the police who had pointed out that it would be a territorial war. Even on the run, the Assize Court in June 2020 sentenced Reda and two of his accomplices to 21 years of criminal imprisonment. This Franco-Moroccan trafficker is considered by the young people of his generation as an example of success in the field of drug trafficking and other transgressions of the law, reports Le Parisien.

At 38 years old, "Turbo" grew up in La Coudraie. "His father worked as a factory worker at the Peugeot plant in the town. Reda was raised there with his two brothers and sister," says a former resident of the neighborhood. To protect his children from the influence of the city, the father bought a house in Les Mureaux. But the young Reda had already taken on the appearance of a trafficker, confides an anonymous close friend. "At 13, he was already dealing at the entrance to La Coudraie. Then he made cannabis resin runs between Spain and France. He was very smart and individualistic. He wanted to succeed and said that at 18 he had to have his first million euros in his pocket. And he made it, it’s crazy. He even celebrated it."

Knowing the strings to pull in the environment, "he quickly climbed the ranks to become the boss of La Coudraie," says a former drug squad officer. "That’s when we nicknamed him Turbo, because he was able to get a ton of cannabis resin out of Morocco per day," confides a drug squad informant. Before becoming known as a trafficker to be closely watched, Reda made his first appearance in the police records at the age of 12 for arson, then for theft, violence, threats, extortion. His criminal record mentions six convictions for "aggravated theft, contempt and failure to comply."

In 2007, he fled when the investigation into Brahim’s murder was closing in on him. He took refuge in Morocco and extended the tentacles of his drug business to France. While the French investigators also learn that he would have bought inflatable boats to transport his goods across the Mediterranean Sea to reach Spain, he evaporates into thin air, under false identities. Despite his rather delicate situation, he afforded himself all the pleasures that his position as a drug trafficking baron could allow him. "In Morocco, he lived in a villa with bodyguards. Abakrim allows himself a social life, gets married and settles in Dubai where he drives a Rolls-Royce, living in the utmost luxury.

It was in January 2010 that the investigation into Brahim’s disappearance took a turn. Bilel, his former lieutenant, under pressure, reveals to the law enforcement the place where Brahim was buried. The body will be found in an advanced state of decomposition. The autopsy reveals that the young man was executed with three 7.65 caliber bullets fired in the pelvis and head. Bilel, very talkative, confides that Mohamed A., Reda Abakrim and Karim B. were with him on the day of Brahim’s murder. The accomplices, with the exception of "Turbo", were arrested, but they did not all give the same version of the day Brahim was executed.

France is impatiently awaiting the extradition of "Turbo" so that he can answer the charges against him. But with his Moroccan nationality, seeing him in France may prove impossible, especially since he was arrested in Morocco for using a false passport.